VIDEO: Gillespie backs Yorkshire squad to match rivals

Celebrating its 150th anniversary, Yorkshire host Sussex in the first County Championship game of the summer – a summer which the club hope will be marked with some silverware.

Former Australian Test bowler Gillespie had an enormous impact during his first year in charge, guiding the county promotion at the first attempt.

But he acknowledges that tougher days lie ahead in what is being tipped as one of the most open Division One championship title races for many years.

“It’s going to be a real challenging time for us, we know that,” Gillespie told www.yorkshirepost.co.uk.

“I think the consistency of the cricket will be improved, we’ll be playing at a lot more Test grounds as well which will be great for the players.

“The quality of the opposition will be improved. You look at all the squads in Division One and there are some serious players and it’s going to be a massive challenge for us.

“But we feel that we’re up to this challenge and we’re here to perform well in Division one

“We’re not here to make up the numbers we’re here to compete and challenge for top spot but we know we’ve got to work hard at our consistency as a team and make sure we’re very disciplined in everything we do.

“We’re going to go out there and play some real positive cricket, some real aggressive cricket.”

Watch Jason Gillespie preview the 2013 campaign by clicking the PLAY button on the screen at the top of this page

Yorkshire have strengthened during the winter, particularly in the fast bowling department with Jack Brooks and Liam Plunkett arriving. With realistic hopes of success in all three formats of the game, Gillespie is happy with his squad’s all-round quality.

“We’re keen to improve in all facets of the game - there is always room for improvement,” he added.

“The good teams that have performed well in Division One haven’t just had to rely on a couple of bowlers, they’ve had a real squad mentality and we believe that’s the best way forward for us.

“I’m very happy with our all-round team strength. We identified that we probably needed to strengthen our bowling - with three distinct forms of the game these days it is a big ask to ask a fast bowler to play all three forms and to play every fixture and we just feel that if you can have that squad mentality it helps.”