Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale targets County title hat-trick
Wednesday 9 September 2015 21:30, UK
Captain Andrew Gale is confident Yorkshire can emulate the 1960s side and win three County Championship titles in a row.
The Tykes sealed their second title in successive years after third-placed Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 204 in the first innings of their match against Durham.
Yorkshire had earlier dismissed second-placed Middlesex for 106 on the opening day of their Division One match at Lord's, taking the hosts out of the running for the title.
Ryan Sidebottom took three wickets in his first over, reducing Middlesex to 0-3 and after the day's play Gale showered praise on his bowling attack spearheaded by the 37-year-old left-arm seamer.
"We really believe we can win three in a row," said Gale.
"To back it up with the second is important, but when the time is right we will challenge ourselves again.
"A lot of people don't win a championship in their career, so to be given another opportunity is overwhelming.
"I remember when we sat down with the senior players in November and we said there's a history of teams getting relegated after winning it. So we worked out what we needed to do to back it up. We were really particular on our standards, we didn't let anything slip.
"Our bowling attack is the best in the country without a doubt. Ryan Sidebottom, the Rolls Royce as we call him, we just keep rolling him out and he keeps delivering.
"The bowling attack's been the key, but there are definitely areas we can improve too."
Sidebottom passed the 700-wicket mark as he finished up with figures of 5-18 and afterwards he admitted the day had been nothing short of perfect.
We don't just want to go past that record points and wins: we want to blast it so it's there for a number of years as well.
"It was a massive surprise to be honest," he said of his explosive start.
"Normally the first over you want to put it straight, make the batsman play, but three wickets, it's what dreams are made of.
"And with 700 as well, to win it five times (in my career), I'm very fortunate. It's been a wonderful team effort."
Yorkshire can still break both the points and wins record in a County Championship since the domestic game split into two tiers and Gale admits that is now the target for side.
"There's a massive determination to break those records, it's already been spoken about tonight," the Yorkshire skipper said.
"And we don't just want to go past that record points and wins: we want to blast it so it's there for a number of years as well. Why not cash in while we're playing well?"
