Success is proving costly to Yorkshire, who are missing six stars to England duty, but first-team coach Jason Gillespie is nevertheless relishing the prospect of defending the LV= County Championship title.
Kevin Howells (BBC radio)
Can't see them being far off again. Still have the best bowling attack in the country and will win matches. We will find out if the conveyor belt that just keeps giving lives up to that description, as some key players will be missing with England.
David Fulton (Sky Sports News)
Yes, the Fulton prediction is for them to defend their title. The bowling attack is as formidable as ever, providing Sidebottom stays fit, and I think batters like Lees are going to get better. Their overseas signings aren’t bad either.
For the coach, it is the easiest job in the world. For the players, it is the platform from which to aim for international honours. So for the Headingley faithful, it promises to be a win-win 2015.
Yorkshire are in the unfamiliar territory for recent times of defending a County Championship title, but as they set the standards higher this also means finding strength in depth with six of their stars away on England duty at the moment.
Yet first-team coach Jason Gillespie, nicknamed 'Dizzy' after the American jazz trumpeter John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie, is confident that enough resources are available, and for now the prospect of a title defence is looking pretty tasty.
Indeed, Gillespie’s confidence has evidence in the fact that young duo Jack Leaning and Will Rhodes were given contract extensions until 2017 earlier this year, and both showed their promise during this week's warm-up against Leeds/Bradford MCCU.
Leaning has already gained experience of a title win in fact, having played 10 times in 2014 and averaging over 38. Rhodes is yet to become a first-team regular but has the experience of captaining England at the Under-19 World Cup.
They are not alone, with the likes of Alex Lees and Steven Patterson also committing themselves – the road up from the academy to first-team cricket is one that is benefiting the White Rose and, by his own admission, making Gillespie’s job easier.
“I’ve always said I’ve got the easiest job in the club!” the Australian said. “All the hard work’s done, all the coaches, the second XI academy pathways, and they’ve done all the hard work.
“The players, they arrive in the first team and I say: ‘Right, just go and enjoy yourselves and show everyone what you can do.
“If you look at it from a positive point of view, Yorkshire players are getting noticed by the (England) selectors; I think that’s fantastic. Rather than moan about the fact that we’re losing players, it presents opportunities for other Yorkshire cricketers to stake a claim and show us what they can do.
“We feel as a club the work that our academy lads and our pathways coaches do is absolutely unbelievable. That strength in depth will come through.”
It has not been totally rosy for Gillespie though, as he had to rouse a club from Division Two all the way to the Division One title. No mean feat with the quality of opposition around, and it promises to be a tighter affair going forward.
Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch are set to delight the crowds in the NatWest 20 Blast, while India’s Cheteshwar Pujara, so long likened to the steadfast Rahul Dravid, will be reacquainting himself with championship cricket, having spent a part of last season at Derbyshire.
Pujara scored 219 runs in six innings for Derbyshire, but that taste of the English game has prompted him to come back for more – he is a highly rated member of the India Test team, and experience in English conditions is something he will relish.
Pujara’s stint will last until Finch is available, and later in the summer New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson will return for the latter stages of the season.
Overall, the Yorkshire supporters will relish the prospect of not only seeing the next generation come through, but also the current stars potentially facing New Zealand in their own backyard in late May.
It makes the journey from the second tier all the more worthwhile, with Gillespie saying: “When I arrived the place was a little bit down, disappointment at going down to Division Two.
“I was simple in my brief, in that the sort of cricket I’d like Yorkshire to play is an aggressive, positive brand of cricket.
“I said I’m not afraid to lose a game of cricket if we’re trying to win it. The lads bought into it.”
Easy when you know how.
Yorkshire
Captain: Andrew Gale
First-team coach: Jason Gillespie
In: Aaron Finch (Australia), Glenn Maxwell (Australia), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Cheteshwar Pujara (India)
Out: Azeem Rafiq (released), Oliver Robinson (released), Younus Khan (Pakistan), Barney Gibson (career change)