Yorkshire's Anthony McGrath is praying for plenty of sunshine at Headingley next week so he can put the final touches to his preparations for England's one-day series in the Caribbean, which starts on April 16.

McGrath, who stood down from the Yorkshire captaincy during the winter because he felt his England career meant he could not concentrate fully on leading his county, leaves on Tuesday week for the West Indies along with three other one-day specialists in Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Ian Blackwell (Somerset) and James Kirtley (Sussex).

"The plan was that I should spend next week tuning up at the National Academy at Loughborough but when it was learned that Yorkshire are aiming to start their outdoor nets on Monday it was agreed that it would be far better for me to stay and practise with them," said McGrath.

"My indoor work has gone very well but nothing is quite the same as playing outside."

Yorkshire fans will be hoping McGrath gets the opportunity to shine in the Caribbean, but he knows that it will not be easy to establish himself.

During the early part of the winter, McGrath toured Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with the one-day squad but spent most of his time watching the action.

"I almost made the side for the first of the three one-day internationals in Bangladesh but someone else was preferred and because England won pretty convincingly I did not get another chance," said McGrath.

He captained England in one of their early games in Sri Lanka but missed out on the first international, which Sri Lanka won easily, and rain washed out the two remaining games.

With only a single limited overs match before the series against the West Indies gets underway, McGrath is aware he may find himself sitting it out again unless he can make an early impression.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire members are expected to quiz officials about the situation regarding Darren Lehmann at tomorrow's annual meeting of the club at Headingley.

Lehmann could miss large parts of the season because of commitments with Australia.