THE door creaked open last season and Yorkshire stood on the threshold of the big-time again. This summer, they are a step away from escaping from the past.
For almost 30 years the nostalgia mongers have been misty-eyed for the ``good old days'' of Yorkshire primacy in England's championship.
Those were the days when players walked barefoot to the ground at dawn after a nightshift and beat Middlesex three times a week, all for the price of a brown ale and a packet of Woodbines. At least, something like that.
Yorkshire went to the top of the championship last July and, though they won nothing, their season was nevertheless successful and it could be argued that the Tykes achieved more than any county except Surrey.
Sixth in the championship, third on Sundays and twice losing semi-finalists to Lancashire in the one-day knockouts, that was the fine record of a good cricketing side. It was frustration and satisfaction rolled into one for David Byas, the captain, after so many years of mediocrity.
There is no reason to think that Yorkshire cannot rumble along the same road this summer, the majority of the side tanned and fit after their pre-season three weeks in Anguilla and St Kitts.
Some of the heat would be removed from the new headquarters debate if the championship were to return to Leeds for the first time since 1968. It would prove that Yorkshire are going places - to a £50 million development at Wakefield, to be exact.
For the first time, almost certainly in their history, Yorkshire will be playing at only two home venues, Headingley and Scarborough. The county have scratched Bradford, Middlesbrough, Sheffield and Harrogate off the list.
Four out-venues have been dispatched at a stroke. Two sea-side matches at Scarborough in July and August barely compensate.
Yorkshire, meanwhile, moved swiftly to sign the left-handed batsman, Darren Lehmann, as a replacement for Michael Slater following his inclusion in Australia's 17-strong Ashes party.
The South Australian, 27, had agreed provisional terms having been recommended to Yorkshire some time ago by Richie Benaud should Slater claim a tour place.
Lehmann, who scored 1,237 runs last season to be the leading Australian run-scorer in the Shield, averaged 53.33 this winter and has a career average of over 50.
Yorkshire's chairman of cricket, Bob Platt, said: ``I am confident we have secured a player who will give us excellent service. Lehmann is an aggressive run-maker and also has a reputation as a good slip catcher.''
Success might well float along if Lehmann can improve on Bevan's 1,225 championship runs, at an average of 64, and if he can emulate his fellow Australian's consistent one-day contributions.
The no-frills style of Byas appeared to blend strength of purpose - a crucial part of four-day cricket - with Yorkshire's traditional ability in depth.
His own off-colour season with the bat seemed to make no difference to the general momentum, which would reflect credit on himself and his team. He was among nine batsmen who scored championship hundreds, the longest spread in the country.
Anthony McGrath is another batsman of whom more will be expected. His loss of form followed his hundred against Hampshire at Harrogate.
Michael Vaughan started and finished the championship summer with innings of 183 and, at the age of 22, one would hope his England career will begin sooner rather than later.
Expectations for Yorkshire have risen and it would be a shame if the players regard this as a burden because their supporters' hopes are this time based on stone-cold reality.
One caveat would be if the county lost Darren Gough from their seam attack, and possibly Chris Silverwood and Craig White at the same time, though that would presumably mean increased opportunity for Gavin Hamilton and Alex Wharf, two admirable bowlers.
Byas and his team are capable of at least finishing runners-up in the championship, last done in 1975, and it goes without saying that they could reach two finals at Lord's. Their last one-day final, and title, was in 1987.