Thursday sees the 2024 county cricket calendar revealed when Yorkshire will find out who, where and when they will play in each of the three formats – the County Championship, the Vitality T20 Blast and the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.

Huddersfield-born Wharton, 22, is currently preparing for the new season with a stint Down Under playing Australian grade cricket for Perth side Wanneroo.

“It’s been a challenging two years (at Yorkshire), but we’re passed that now,” said Wharton, in an interview with a local radio station. “Although we finished second bottom in Division Two, if we didn’t get those points deducted we’d have been right up there.

“We also had a couple of games where the English weather stuck with us a bit.

“We’re a young squad, and the more we get these opportunities to play (abroad), it’s only going to help the county.

"We’re definitely going in the right direction.”

So far, Wharton has played a couple of two-day games for Wanneroo, getting off to the almost-perfect start when scoring a match-winning 99 on debut against Mount Lawley.

“It was very significant,” added the right-handed batter of his debut innings. “To do that in the first game settled the nerves and made me feel a bit more at ease with it all. It takes the pressure off.

“If you get off to a slow start, it’s not the end of the world by any means, but it makes it easier going into the next few fixtures if you can get a score.”

Wharton, who made his Championship debut for Yorkshire against Gloucestershire in 2022, made six Championship appearances last season, averaging 38.77.

He scored four half-centuries with a top score of 89 in the second innings against Worcestershire, helping Yorkshire to a six-wicket win as they went on to finish second-bottom, their campaign blasted apart by the 48-point deduction handed out as a result of the Cricket Discipline Commission enquiry.

Yorkshire CCC's James Wharton confident 2024 will herald better days for White Rose