Yorkshire CCC has shown it can challenge the best says head coach Anthony McGrath

As head coach Anthony McGrath said in the immediate aftermath of that game: “We won’t win by that margin every week, I’m sure, but the pleasing thing for me was that we didn’t get too down after losing our first match (away to Hampshire) because everyone had been excited about being back in Division One and starting the new season.”

Two matches, then, which have brought contrasting results - after Yorkshire went down by five wickets in Southampton - but not necessarily contrasting performances when viewed in the round.

Take out the first three hours of that game on the south coast, when Yorkshire collapsed to 121 all-out in their first innings, and there was little between them and a Hampshire side which had achieved a top-three finish in each of the last three seasons.

As McGrath puts it prior to game number three, with a good number of Yorkshire fans expected to make the trip north over the Easter holiday: “Hopefully we can get that consistency now and not get carried away.

“Not too down (after Hampshire) and not too up after the latest result - just try and get some consistency into our performances.”

Following his appointment last October on a five-year deal, after a successful spell in charge of Essex, McGrath made no attempt to dampen expectations or downplay ambition.

“In terms of Division One (of the Championship), T20 and 50-over, our goal should be to try and win those competitions and not be shy about saying that,” he said, setting the bar high.

What the Worcestershire win confirmed to him was that he has a group of players capable of reaching such standards.

Asked whether he felt that result suggested his side could indeed challenge, McGrath told The Yorkshire Post: “Yes, I think so, although even at Hampshire we saw some good signs.

“Hampshire have been one of the more consistent teams and we gave them a good run even though we weren’t at our best, so there’s no reason why not.

“It was a major thing against Worcestershire (the highest winning margin), and just the professionalism of that performance was really impressive.

“I’ve not really changed my mind (on Yorkshire’s potential) seeing that performance, and the guys were right on it.”

Particularly pleasing for McGrath was what it said about his men.

It was the performance of a side with plenty of pugnacity.

“The performance just emphasised the character, really,” he said.

“We’re still getting to know individuals and the lads as a whole, really (as a coaching group), but we’ve seen that (sort of thing) during pre-season.

"But you probably don’t see it properly until you have a loss and you see how people react.

“It was pretty evident going into the game that there were no heads down and they were really determined to put it right, and that was as good a nine sessions as you’re going to get.”

Yorkshire’s victory was just their second in the last 18 Championship matches at Headingley, a ground where eight of the previous nine fixtures had been drawn.

A combination of a good, competitive surface and some equally good, competitive bowling was key, with Worcestershire aggregating just 267 runs across their two innings at a combined run-rate of 2.62.

“We just managed to be relentless in terms of our lengths,” said McGrath.

“Mick Lewis, our bowling coach, has been banging on about holding our lengths and a fuller length, and we did that.

“The bowling unit is the key, and to get that run-rate under 2.7, if you do that, stats say you’ll create chances and that’s what we did.

“We also caught really well and that makes a big difference; the previous week we were a bit loose in that department, which can happen, but we’ve got some good catchers and I think that helps the bowlers as well.”

Next up is a Durham team strongly tipped to do well but who have started the season with two straight defeats.

Alex Lees’s men lost their first match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge by eight wickets and then went down by one wicket to Warwickshire in a nail-biter at Chester-le-Street.

“It’s always a tough game up there,” said McGrath.

"They’ve been good over the last couple of years, and it will be a different challenge.

"It will be interesting to see what wicket they go with, and it should be a good game.”