Yorkshire at 150: Gale says feelgood factor is back at Yorkshire

Gale, who hopes to bring the Championship back to Headingley Carnegie in the club’s 150th anniversary year, feels that last season’s promotion triumph – allied to the county’s splendid form in Twenty20 – has created a feelgood factor around Yorkshire cricket.

“There is a real buzz around Yorkshire cricket at the moment – more so than at any time since the club won the Championship in 2001,” said Gale. “In my opinion, there couldn’t be a better time to be a Yorkshire member, a Yorkshire supporter.

“What with coming off the back of last year and getting promoted in the Championship, getting to the Twenty20 Cup final and getting through to the Twenty20 Champions League, I think there’s a tremendous excitement around the club.

“As players, we’ll be doing our utmost to mark this anniversary by winning some silverware.”

Top of Gale’s wish list is the Championship, which he almost won in his first season as captain in 2010.

Yorkshire exceeded expectations that summer to finish third in the table, narrowly failing to clinch the crown.

“We almost did it in 2010 and we can build on that this year,” he said. “We had a young squad back then and did a lot better than most people thought, so by no means do I think this year it’s out of our reach.

“I think with the squad we’ve got now that if we play anything like we’re definitely capable of winning the title.

“On our day we can beat any team in the league, and we’ll go into next season with plenty of confidence.”

That confidence emanates from a far better season last year, when Yorkshire fought back from the disappointment of Championship relegation in 2011.

Although they were expected to bounce straight back, they not only coped with that pressure but the fact most of their matches were weather-affected, which made it difficult to force victories for much of the summer.

“At the back of my mind when we got relegated in 2011 was that the only good thing to come out of it would be if we bounced straight back again,” added Gale. “By doing that we created a winning mentality which can only rub off on a young group of players.

“The likes of Azeem Rafiq, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Moin Ashraf – they’ve all been involved in a winning culture and that can only be good for the club going forward.

“They’ve all had a taste of succes and will want more of it for sure.”

To be captain in Yorkshire’s 150th year means a great deal to Gale, who became Yorkshire’s youngest leader since Brian Sellers in the 1930s when he was appointed to the top job in December 2009.

He is cut from the same uncompromising cloth, demanding the highest of standards from his troops.

“I’d like to think I belong to that tradition of strong Yorkshire captains,” said Gale. “I try to lead from the front, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I’m immensely proud to represent the club.

“You’ve got to be strong as a Yorkshire captain because you’re there to be shot at; expectations in Yorkshire cricket are massive, and, if you don’t quite get things right, as in 2011, you’re going to get people come at you – it’s part and parcel of the job.

“But I wouldn’t change that for the world and it’s a great honour to be in charge as the club celebrates its 150th anniversary.”

Yorkshire have known plenty of success since they were formed in 1863, although not too much in modern times. As such, there is always pressure on men such as Gale.

“It’s a massive legacy,” he reflected. “You look at the side in the 50s and 60s, for example, and they won seven County Championships in ten seasons, which is an unbelievable stat.

“Can you imagine if a team in this day and age went and did that?

“It’s a phenomenal record and, as the current captain, you’re sort of expected to bring that type of success back to the club.

“It’s a massive task and can be quite daunting at times, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Modern sportsmen are often accused of not having sufficient affinity with the past, of not paying enough attention to history.

But Gale has always been aware of the county’s great history.

“I like to look at the players who played before me,” he added. “I like to look at some of the old footage.

“I enjoy reading about some of the old players and talking to people like Geoffrey Boycott, for instance, because they’ve been there, done it and got the T-shirt.

“Nowadays, when you drive through the gates at Headingley and you look up at the East Stand and see all the pictures of the older players on the wall in front of you, you realise just how big a club Yorkshire really is. No disrespect to some of the other counties, but Yorkshire have produced so many great players it’s frightening.”

For Gale, the new season cannot come quickly enough as Yorkshire look to build on their efforts in 2012.

And as Yorkshire get ready to celebrate their milestone, there is a real sense of a club moving forward under new head coach Jason Gillespie, director of cricket Martyn Moxon and Gale himself. Gale is excited about what Yorkshire can achieve.

“We haven’t gone back into Division One in the Championship just to make up the numbers,” he said. “The message I’ll be giving the players is that we want to give it a really good go.

“I believe we’ve got a fantastic group of lads and, as long as our attitude and the mental side of our game is right, I certainly believe we’re good enough to compete.

“We’ve just got to go out there and savour the challenge.”