The county's director of professional cricket, whose team narrowly avoided County Championship relegation, insisted the best way to make Yorkshire a major force again was to give greater opportunities to up-and-coming cricketers.

Moxon said Yorkshire were trying to build solid foundations and looking to sign no more than one new player for the 2009 season.

His comments come after Adil Rashid, 20, and David Wainwright, 23, played key roles in Yorkshire's back-from-the-dead draw against Sussex at Hove that helped keep the club in the First Division.

Moxon was full of praise for both after Rashid recorded a career-best 111 and match figures of 9-177 and Wainwright a career-best 104 not out and match figures of 5-92.

Their ninth-wicket stand of 140 helped Yorkshire from 80-6 to 400-9 declared in a stunning performance that belied their tender years.

"Rashid and Wainwright played unbelievably well under the most intense pressure and it has reinforced my belief that the best way forward is to give our young lads as many opportunities as possible," said Moxon.

"We've been trying to do that more and more this season and it's something we need to continue into next year and beyond.

"Under the most intense pressure, for those two lads to play the way they did was a tremendous achievement and shows the sort of talent we've got coming through.

"The challenge is trying to win games while at the same time developing our own players, but at recent board meetings I have said I want to give the young lads every opportunity to play.

"It might not give us instant success in winning trophies, but I believe there is enough potential around to at least warrant giving these players a go.

"The fact that we battled so bravely at Hove showed there is something to work with and, although you need a bit of experience around the younger guys, there is no doubt they've got tremendous character and attitude.

"So we're not really looking to make any new signings – maybe one new player at the most – because we want to develop the existing squad."

Yorkshire's side at Hove included six players under 25 – Rashid, Wainwright, Adam Lyth, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale and Steve Patterson, the latter having agreed a new two-year deal. Jonathan Bairstow (19) and Ajmal Shahzad (23) were also in the squad.

"We've seen people like Steve Patterson and Ajmal Shahzad develop and there's a really good crop of young bowlers coming through," added Moxon.

"Then there are other lads such as Joe Sayers and Chris Taylor who have had difficult seasons for a variety of reasons, but who I still believe are capable batsmen.

"Sayers has got big hundreds in the past, Taylor has got runs at Derby, and I think both have a big part to play going into next year. We've also got the likes of Azeem Rafiq and Gary Ballance bubbling below the surface.

"It's difficult to put a time-frame on success because you never know how quickly young players will develop, but the important thing is that we give them every opportunity and let's see where it takes us."

Moxon pronounced himself largely satisfied with the season overall, with Championship survival being complemented by a much-improved display in one-day cricket.

"One-day-wise, I was very pleased with our efforts," he added. "We got to the quarter-final of the Twenty20 before getting kicked out of that; we got to the semi-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy and we won promotion in the Pro40 League, so I was pretty happy with that side of the game.

"Four-day-wise there's still plenty to do. We managed to stay up, but we know we can improve and it's all about performing with consistency.

"We've had opportunities to win matches this season but not taken them, and that's nearly cost us dear.

"If we can start taking our opportunities we can hopefully be challenging near the top of the league as opposed to scrapping at the bottom."