Rashid to show he likes to be beside seaside

Rashid has made a modest start to the season, taking seven County Championship wickets at 46.42.

But he has a good track record at Scarborough, where he has claimed 33 first-class victims at 28.63.

"Adil enjoys bowling at Scarborough," said Gale, whose table-topping team will be hunting their third victory in five Championship games against Essex (11.30am start).

"The pitch offers him a bit more pace and bounce and he's been very successful at the ground.

"Adil struggled a little bit at the start of the season but I think he's started to get his rhythm back.

"I was able to give him a long bowl against Kent the other week, when he started to get the loop back into his action, and he bowled beautifully in our last game against Durham."

Gale believes Rashid, 22, has understandably been affected by his winter experiences when he lost his place in the England set-up.

Rashid was picked in England's Test and one-day squads for the tour to South Africa but fell from grace to the extent he was overlooked for the trip to Bangladesh.

"Adil's been down on confidence a little bit after the winter," said Gale. "He's been dragged around here, there and everywhere and I think the lad only spent something like 40 days at home.

"We have to remember he's still only young and that he's only a kid.

"He's still finding his way in the game and we need to give him time to do that."

Gale said there was a simple trick to handling Rashid.

"You've got to give him the basic messages of being patient and encourage him to put the ball in the right areas," he added.

"Because he's so eager and he knows what he's capable of, he can sometimes try to bowl too many variations.

"Adil got two wickets in two balls with googlies against Durham and for the rest of the game you could see he was wanting to bowl a googly every ball.

"You have to say to him there'll be periods when he'll go, say, 10 overs without getting a wicket but that he'll get his rewards later in the game if he keeps doing the right things."

Gale has shown a refreshing willingness to attack since taking over as captain.

One example has been his decision to play Rashid and left-arm spinner David Wainwright as much as possible.

"With Adil, Wainers and Azeem Rafiq, I think we've got the three best young spinners in the country and they're a real weapon for us," he added.

"So far this year it's been Adil and Wainers who've played in the first XI, but Azeem is not far off and the two lads who are in at the moment know they've got to keep performing to stay in the side.

"I've used Wainers in more of a holding role this season in an effort to try to control the game.

"He hasn't been firing on all cylinders yet to be fair, but I've been using him in the sort of Ashley Giles role that England used Giles during the 2005 Ashes."

A notable feature of the opening quarter of the Championship campaign has been the lack of bowling depth around the country.

Yorkshire's first opponents Warwickshire struggled to exert pressure when Neil Carter and Imran Tahir did not have the ball, while both Somerset and Kent lacked strength in depth.

Yorkshire, in contrast, have several options and a well-balanced attack.

It inspires confidence they can maintain their excellent start.

"I think we've got a lot of variety," said Gale. "Adil is a totally different spinner to Wainers; Patto (Steve Patterson) is a holding bowler; Tino Best's got the pace; Oliver Hannon-Dalby poses extra problems with his height; Ajmal Shahzad swings the ball; Tim Bresnan seams it, and so on.

"Our opponents say our attack is very hard to line up because the bowlers are all so different.

"I think that gives us an extra edge."

Despite their flying start, Gale insists there is little expectation on a young Yorkshire side.

"The pressure is still off us," he added.

"We've made a great start but we're still the underdogs going into every game.

"We'll be the underdogs once again against Essex, and the game promises to be another big test.

"But we're playing with plenty of confidence at the moment and I'm hopeful we can get another good result."