Yorkshire v Hampshire: Pressure is all on our rivals claims captain

Gale believes his young team have nothing to lose as they attempt to overtake the top two teams in Division One and defy bookmakers' predictions of a difficult season.

Gale said that while Yorkshire can approach the run-in with a certain degree of freedom, Nottinghamshire and Somerset carry the additional burden of expectation.

Just six points separate the three main rivals, with Nottinghamshire on 176, Somerset 172 and Yorkshire 170, although Nottinghamshire have a game in hand.

"The way I see it, we've got nothing to lose and the pressure is all on Nottinghamshire and Somerset," said Gale, whose team continue their title challenge against Hampshire at Scarborough, starting today.

"We started the season as underdogs, as relegation candidates, and we're just going to give it 110 per cent and see where it takes us.

"Notts are the guys who've paid the big money out, who've got the experience, whereas we've got a team full of young lads.

"Nobody expected Yorkshire to win the Championship going into the season, and yet we're still up there fighting."

The lack of pressure on Yorkshire's shoulders – they spent the previous four summers battling relegation – has proved a significant positive.

It has enabled them to play with an attitude that success is a bonus alongside their immediate goal of player development.

If the season ended today, Yorkshire could point to an excellent campaign.

Although they failed to pull up trees in the Twenty20 Cup, they are still challenging strongly in the Clydesdale Bank 40 League as they pursue an unlikely league and cup double.

"It would be easy now to sit back and say, 'Well, we've had a good season', but that's not what it's about," stressed Gale.

"We've got a chance now to be part of something really special at Yorkshire and we need to make sure our attitude is right.

"We've worked bloody hard over the last six months, right from the start of pre-season, to get ourselves into this position.

"Now we've come this far, there's no reason why we can't kick on and actually win something."

Gale's positive captaincy has been a key reason Yorkshire remain in the silverware hunt.

The 26-year-old has led from the front in his first year at the helm and struck up a good rapport with director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon.

Both have challenged Yorkshire's youngsters to come to the fore – and the response so far has been top class.

But Gale warned Yorkshire will continue to experience ups and downs.

"On our day, we're one of the best sides in the country," he said, "but, if it's not our day, we can be one of the worst.

"That's the nature of things when you've got a young side and people need to bear that in mind.

"I'm sure there's going to be times in the last three Championship games when it does go wrong for us, when not everything we do goes our way.

"But as long as the lads are working hard and doing the right things, we can hold our heads up and say we're giving it our best shot."

Despite their lofty Championship position, Yorkshire remain a work in progress.

That was highlighted by the way Nottinghamshire dominated when the teams met at Headingley Carnegie earlier in the month, when the visitors were denied by the weather.

"We're nowhere near the finished article," added Gale.

"When I look around the dressing room, I see there's still a way to go for some of those players.

"Basically, we're a young side, a developing side, and I think the average age of our team is something like 24/25.

"When you contrast that with the experience that the likes of Notts have got, then you can see what we're up against.

"At the same time, I don't want to fall behind the fact that we've got young players.

"At the start of the season, the target for some of our youngsters was just to stay in the side, but, now they've done that, it's important they don't just stay in the side but actually win us games.

"People like Adam Lyth have done that brilliantly this year, and I've just got to keep all these lads on their toes and encourage them not to rest on what they've done so far."

Yorkshire will have Tim Bresnan available for the first two days. Under ECB regulations, Yorkshire are allowed to field a replacement for Bresnan, with Richard Pyrah and Oliver Hannon-Dalby in the frame. Yorkshire will give a fitness test to Ajmal Shahzad (ankle) before play today and have included pace bowler Moin Ashraf in a 13-man squad.

Yorkshire v Hampshire

Hampshire form

It has been a strange old season for Hampshire. After losing their first four Championship games, they have not lost any of their subsequent eight but are still in a relegation battle. They are seventh, above Essex and Warwickshire, and will be chasing their third win of the season following victories over Kent and Nottinghamshire. On the plus side, Dominic Cork's side won this season's Twenty20 Cup and still have a chance of silverware in the Clydesdale Bank 40 League. They have never won a Championship match at North Marine Road.

One to watch: Michael Carberry

The opener has made 1,055 Championship runs to trail Somerset's James Hildreth (1,302), Yorkshire trio Adam Lyth (1,275), Jacques Rudolph (1,210) and Anthony McGrath (1,133) and Somerset's Marcus Trescothick (1,132).

Yorkshire squad

Lyth, Rudolph, McGrath, Gale (captain), Bairstow, Brophy, Bresnan, Rashid, Shahzad, Patterson, Pyrah, Hannon-Dalby, Ashraf.

Last time at Scarborough

July 23-26, 2003. Yorkshire 384 (MJ Wood 155, MJ Lumb 64) and 211-4 dec (MJ Lumb 59, SP Fleming 53) drew with Hampshire 289 (SM Katich 143*) and 180-6.

Head-to-head

Of the 160 County Championship matches between the sides, Yorkshire have won 72, Hampshire 19 and 69 games have been drawn.

Weather

Sunshine and showers.