After back-to-back wins by an innings, Finlay Bean and Ben Coad are confident that Yorkshire are on track to make a return to the top-flight of the Vitality County Championship.
Crushing victories over Gloucestershire and Derbyshire have left Yorkshire third in Division Two going into the final five matches of the season.
They still have to face Sussex and Middlesex, the two sides currently ahead of Yorkshire in the standings and in the two promotion spots as it stands.
Speaking exclusively to Vertu Motors about the season to date, Coad expressed his belief that the club is now finding form at the right time:
He said: "The last few County Championship games have been awesome, and that is how we should be playing.
“There have been a few times that we have looked threatening but didn’t get over the line, and I don’t feel we started the season as well as we should have done, but now we have set the standard.
“If we can play half as well in the final five games as we have in the last two, then we should go up.
“I said from the start of the season that there could be no excuses and we should be pushing for promotion, and I maintain that view.”
The back-to-back wins in the last two County Championship games came despite the fact that Yorkshire were without the likes of Joe Root and Harry Brook both of whom turned out for the club earlier this season, but are now needed by England thanks to their central contracts.
Bean explained to Vertu Motors how others have taken the chance to impress in their absence.
He said: “When we have been missing people like Joe and Harry, the younger players have had to come in and take their place.
“They have really stepped up to the plate this season, and we have come together as a unit.”
At the stage of just 22 and in only his second full season of County Championship cricket, Bean has impressed with the bat so far this year while opening the batting.
He shared a mammoth opening partnership of 307 with Adam Lyth against Gloucestershire and also set a new personal best score in first class cricket of 173 against Glamorgan.
It means Bean has been pleased with his own personal performance so far this season.
He said: “In the Gloucestershire game, we lost the toss so to then get a score like that was great. I remember were in the 280-290 mark and I was getting carried away and Lythy told me off and to calm down as there aren’t many chances to get a 300 partnership! It was really pleasing to get that score as it set up the victory.
“I’ve scored hundreds in the past but they haven’t been big hundreds, and now I’ve passed 150 twice this season.
“Hitting a new personal best against Glamorgan with Joe Root at the other end was a fantastic feeling.”
The next County Championship game is scheduled for late August against Sussex, and is one the Coad told Vertu Motors he was particularly looking forward to.
He said: “There is a big push from us to really go for it, and I’m looking forward to the Sussex game at Scarborough.
“The atmosphere there is unlike at any other ground and it will be great to go there for such a big game as we all love the place.”
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