Jason Gillespie says winning the LV= County Championship with Yorkshire would rank among his proudest achievements.

The county’s coach was a great of the game during his playing career as a fast bowler for Australia, claiming 402 international wickets.

An Ashes winner, Gillespie also played in the Australian team that won a record 16 successive Tests between 1999 and 2001. He also lifted the Sheffield Shield domestic crown with South Australia in 1995-96.

He has since made an impressive move into coaching with MidWest Rhinos in Zimbabwe and then Yorkshire, who he led to Division Two promotion last year.

Ahead of the Division One opener against Sussex, who feature England star Monty Panesar, at Headingley on Wednesday, Gillespie admitted: “I’ve been very fortunate as a player to achieve what I did.

“But it would be right up there if I was involved with Yorkshire winning the County Championship. It would be one of the greatest things you could achieve.”

Yet Gillespie is wary of looking too far ahead for too long, describing it as “crystal balling things”.

He explained: “When I arrived, I was left in no doubt what was expected from all the members. The club were obviously very keen to get back in Division One as well.

“The way we approached it as a team was ‘let’s just focus on who we’ve got in front of us now, chip away and be very consistent in what we do’. I believe we did that.

“We’ve now got the opportunity we wanted in Division One and we believe we’ve got the side to be competitive against all teams. We’ve got that opportunity to do something special.

“We need to be very consistent in all our actions on the park, in the nets or in our warm-ups. That will lead us to be the disciplined side we’re striving to be.”

Gillespie’s last first-class match was for Glamorgan in 2008 but the end of his playing days did not signal the loss of excitement ahead of a new season.

He insisted: “I do still get that buzz. I love coaching. I get a real kick out of seeing the lads do well and Yorkshire being successful.”