Paul Prichard is not expected to pull on an Essex sweater again until next month.

The former county skipper, his wrist encased in plaster, revealed that he expects to be out of action until the beginning of July.

"The tendons are damaged and I just have to be patient and wait for the problem to clear up," he said.

Prichard suffered the injury during the clash against Gloucestershire three weeks ago and his prolonged absence is a bitter blow for the county.

Following his trials and tribulations last summer, when he scored only 237 Championship runs, he started this season in a rich vein of form.

In 11 First class innings before his injury he gathered four 50s and one century while aggregating 441 runs at an average of just over 40.

Meanwhile, Ricky Anderson is included in the countys squad for Saturday's National League duel against First Division leaders Yorkshire at Headingley.

He is added to the side beaten by Kent at Chelmsford last weekend, a defeat which left Nasser Hussain and his players rooted to the bottom of the table.

They will need to be at their best to tame the Tykes, who have won each of their five games to set a scorching pace at the top.

One of those successes was at Chelmsford last month when they had three wickets and three deliveries to spare while successfully chasing 221.

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