The league table does lie for Yorkshire CCC at the end of a challenging campaign

Without that 48-point penalty, Yorkshire would have finished third, 10 points behind Worcestershire in the second and final promotion place.

The weather impacted them to the extent that they lost some 40 per cent of playing time, denying them likely wins in several games in a season top-heavy with draws.

So much so, only the two promoted teams, Durham and Worcestershire, had more positive results than the other way round.

Durham won seven and lost one of their 14 fixtures, drawing six, while Worcestershire won five, lost three and also drew six.

In contrast, Glamorgan drew 12 of their 14 fixtures, Sussex and Derbyshire 10, Yorkshire nine, Gloucestershire eight and Leicestershire seven.

It is interesting to note that, in Division One, the opposite trend occurred, with only Lancashire (10 draws out of 14) experiencing fewer positive results than the other way round, suggesting a gulf in class between the divisions and greater penetration with the ball among the top flight teams.

For Yorkshire to prosper in Division One again - assuming that they achieve the promotion next summer that will rightly be demanded - bowling penetration will also be key.

It has not quite been there in recent times - certainly not to the extent that it was when they won the title in 2014 and 2015, when they had an attack based around Ryan Sidebottom, Jack Brooks, Tim Bresnan, Steve Patterson and Adil Rashid.

The ‘points of difference’ then - a magnificent left-armer in Sidebottom, and a wonderful leg-spinner in Rashid - are no longer present, with the attack lacking such X-factor if not commitment or ability.

Yorkshire are heavily reliant on Ben Coad for wickets and economy, with the bowling department consistently beset by injuries; at least the signing of left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty from Surrey will provide variety and competition.

Given a fair wind and better luck with injuries, Yorkshire have enough penetration to get out of Division Two, and, on paper, to challenge at the higher level if perhaps not to win the title outright without reinforcements.

In addition to the new-ball staples of Coad and Matty Fisher, and the all-round capabilities of Jordan Thompson, Matty Revis, George Hill and Dom Bess, the bowling would certainly benefit from a clear run at things for pace men Matt Milnes and Mickey Edwards, who barely featured through injury this year and are therefore yet to show Yorkshire of what they are capable.

It would be particularly pleasing to see the 21-year-old leg-spinner Jafer Chohan come to the fore - he has yet to play a first-class game, but he seems to have something about him, as he showed in T20.

Beyond that, some of the younger pace bowlers such as Ben Cliff and Dom Leech will now be hoping to take strides forward.

Batting-wise, Yorkshire look perfectly equipped for a promotion challenge.

In Adam Lyth and Fin Bean, they have one of the best opening combinations going, one that evokes memories of the Lyth/Alex Lees alliance in the title-winning years.

At 36, Lyth cannot go on forever, but nor does he look ready to hang up his bat.

Bean, 21, was rightly named members’ player of the year in his first full season: a return of 983 runs at 46.80 - to go with Lyth’s 1,019 at 48.52 - was an excellent effort.

Of the regular batsmen, Shan Masood topped the averages with 720 runs at 60.00, despite not having a particularly memorable year.

The Pakistani got lots of starts but only two hundreds, both of which came in the last three games.

Masood ended the season strongly and is back next year as an overseas player.

His captaincy is perhaps a work in progress, but the truism that a captain is only as good as his bowling attack is a truism for a reason.

Elsewhere, the challenge for James Wharton and the rest of the up-and-coming batsmen is this: can they do what Bean did this year?

Wharton is certainly capable of pushing for 1,000 runs and, like Bean, scoring three - or perhaps more - hundreds in a season.

With Yorkshire seeing so little of Dawid Malan and Joe Root, he has a great chance to nail down a place, while Yorkshire may look to strengthen their batting with the addition of another overseas player.

Revis scored the first two centuries of his career in 2023, and he has the potential to go to the top; ditto George Hill, long considered an outstanding prospect.

As was the case in 2022, this season was effectively a write-off, of course, due to the off-field issues surrounding the club, at least in terms of its Championship ambitions.

Whereas last year many players were badly affected by the removal of the entire coaching/backroom staff, culminating in relegation, this year the club still had the threat of a points deduction hanging over it, a situation not resolved until July 28, circa two-thirds into the campaign.

Next time, Yorkshire really will have a clean slate - no pun intended - and begin the season from a level playing field. They will also, fingers crossed, have resolved the outstanding issue of refinancing the organisation, and at last be able to look forward from the darkest chapter in their history – although not at the expense, one hopes, of the many injustices that have taken place there.

Improvement is still needed in one-day cricket, with Yorkshire seemingly no closer to ending what is now a 21-year wait for silverware.

They finished second-bottom of the T20 North Group and made no impact in the One-Day Cup, although the weather did them no favours in white-ball either.

Yorkshire were heavily-hit in terms of the Hundred, which deprived them of nine players in a One-Day Cup competition that is now a lottery.

It remains the case - and it almost goes without saying - that had Yorkshire their full complement of players available at all times, they would be challenging for/winning everything in sight.