Andrew Gale aiming to lay platform for Yorkshire CCC title hat-trick

Yorkshire thrashed the MCC by nine wickets in Abu Dhabi in the traditional curtain-raiser to the English campaign before going on to claim back-to-back Championships.

Yorkshire return to the Middle East today for a two-week pre-season tour, the centrepiece of which is once more the four-day fixture against the MCC at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, starting a week on Sunday.

Gale feels that a good performance can help lay the platform for another successful summer as Yorkshire strive to become the first county to win a hat-trick of Championships since they themselves did it in 1968.

“Last year’s match against the MCC set a good tone for the summer,” said Gale, who was forced to miss the game through suspension.

“Because it’s a proper first-class fixture, it’s not about giving as many people a bat and a bowl as possible, but a big game in its own right and one that we definitely want to win.

“I was disappointed not to play last time, so I’m really looking forward to it on a personal level.

“On paper, the MCC look like they’ve got a fantastic team, so we’ll certainly be tested.”

MCC will be captained by Ian Bell and their squad also features Graham Onions, James Tredwell, Scott Borthwick and Rikki Clarke, all of whom have played Test cricket.

Yorkshire’s 18-man party does not include Joe Root, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett and David Willey, who are on World T20 duty, or the rested Jonny Bairstow.

Yorkshire will play a handful of practice fixtures on tour and will defend the Emirates Airline T20 Cup, which takes place in Dubai on March 18.

Gale said the squad is shaping up well.

“I guess if you asked every county captain at this time of year, they’d all be very positive and say that their teams have been working hard, that they’re in a good place and that they’re in a good position to win trophies,” he said.

“All I’d say is that our lads have really put in throughout the winter, and I’m very positive going into the season.

“We’ve made our training a little bit more pressure-based since Christmas, particularly with the one-day stuff, playing more match-scenario stuff and putting the lads’ skills under pressure.

“But you can only replicate that so much indoors before they actually need to get into a game situation for real, and you don’t quite know where you’re at until you get to that point.”

Gale views a busy pre-season as ideal preparation, with Yorkshire also facing a two-day friendly at Derby in early April followed by a three-day match against the Leeds-Bradford MCCU at Headingley.

The first Championship fixture is against Hampshire at Headingley on April 17.

“The positive thing is that we’ve got a lot of cricket between now and April 17,” continued Gale.

“We’ve been in positions before in pre-season where I think we’ve been really good only to find that we’ve perhaps been a little bit undercooked, so it helps to have a number of games.

“Along with the matches and the practice, I intend to get all the lads together in Dubai and talk about how we’re going to go about things this summer.

“Out there is the perfect opportunity to do that, and the chance to have some good conversations.”

Gale’s comments were echoed by Yorkshire’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon, who also senses a fierce determination among the players.

Yorkshire do not just want to win a hat-trick of Championships; they also want to make headway in one-day cricket.

“The attitude of the lads has been first-class,” said Moxon.

“We’ve had a number of them away throughout the winter – we’ve had more lads away this year, I think, than we have done for the last few years – but now we’re all back together the vibe and the buzz is certainly there.

“There is an excitement around the camp and a determination to carry on being successful.

“We want to compete this year on all three fronts, and we’ve been working particularly hard with that in mind.”

Yorkshire have announced that their NatWest T20 Blast match against Lancashire at Headingley on July 1 is already heading for a sell-out.

Seventy per cent of tickets have so far been sold for the club’s biggest domestic fixture of the season.