Brian Dawson is confident he can lead Yorkshire to another British Inter-County Championships title this season.
Yorkshire finished top of the Premier Division by 33 points last season, and heading into their 2016-17 season opener at home to Warwickshire today, new captain Dawson is targeting more success.
“We’re getting used to winning it now,” he said. “We want to win it again. To be honest we usually do win it, we seem to be the strongest team, but Lancashire and Cheshire give us a good fight.
“We always seem to come out on top and I think it’s down to the strength in depth we’ve got.
“There’s so much competition for everyone to beat everyone else. We’ve got so many good players it’s unbelievable.”
Dawson takes over from Martin Atkins as captain for Yorkshire this season and could not be happier to be leading the team this season.
“I’ve been made captain this year which is fantastic for me,” he said. “Martin Atkins was the captain last year but it’s done on averages with Yorkshire.
“I ended up just above Dave Copley so it’s mine for at least a season!
“I think it’s just Yorkshire, I don’t know of any other counties that do it that way.”
Yorkshire have boosted their squad ahead of the new campaign with the signing of England international Mark McGeeney, who has switched from Lancashire to join the champions.
“We’ve got Mark McGeeney joining us this season,” Dawson said. “He’s come from Lancashire which is going to cause a bit of a stir!
“I don’t think he’s originally from Lancashire but he’s played for Lancashire last year.
“He said he’s always wanted to play for Yorkshire so he’s signed this year, which is great for us because he’s a great player.
“He’s been thinking about it for quite a few seasons. He said to me that he’s always wanted to play for Yorkshire.
“To be honest that was a bit strange to me because I wouldn’t dream of playing for another county but that’s up to him.
“Increasing the squad keeps us all on our toes. Everybody is fighting for their place and everybody wants to put that shirt on.”
Lancashire and Essex were the closest title challengers to Yorkshire last season, while this weekend’s opponents Warwickshire, who finished fourth last term, will also pose a tricky test for Dawson and his team.
“We always seem to come out on top and it’s down to the strength in depth”
“We don’t have many easy matches but we seem to get through them,” the Yorkshire skipper said.
“It’s going to be a tough one first up against Warwickshire but we’re expecting a victory.
“Last year was one of the closest, we needed nine points in the last match against Lancashire.
“It was the closest year since I’ve been playing county, which is the last four or five years and we’ve won it every single season I’ve been there.
“Last year was definitely the tightest but we don’t want to leave it that tight this year.
“We’re all looking forward to it and can’t wait for the new season to start. It’ll be heads on because we want to keep winning it.”
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