COUNTY champions Yorkshire are up and running in 2015 after hammering the MCC inside three days in Abu Dhabi.

Alex Lees and company completed a nine-wicket victory two overs before scheduled close today, with Adil Rashid, Jack Brooks and Adam Lyth all impressing again.

The intensity with which Yorkshire played this first-class match should be lauded.

They desperately wanted to win it, whereas the MCC looked off the boil for the majority of the contest, highlighted by two notable batting collapses.

MCC, who fell from 160-3 to 221 all out in the first innings, began day three at 13-0 in their second innings – 138 runs in arrears – and they had advanced to 125-2 during the afternoon only to be bowled out for 220 after tea.

Rashid claimed 4-72 from 22.5 and Brooks 3-22 from 13, including England Test captain Alastair Cook for five, his second single-figure score of the match.

The White Rose were set a target of 70, which they cantered to in 20 overs for the loss of only Lees. Lyth made 46 not out, and it sets them up perfectly for the start of the Championship on April 19.

"We've played some good cricket here," said coach Jason Gillespie.

"The whole tour has been a massive success. The training we've done has been top notch, the two-day practice was fantastic, we won a Twenty20 match against Middlesex and the Emirates T20.

"To play this MCC game and play the style of cricket we want to play throughout the season has been fantastic.

"Full credit to the lads because they've put a lot of work in.

"The boys have been spot on with their attitude. At times, it has been quite challenging and they've stepped up.”

Rashid agreed: "This isn't just a pre-season game, it's a proper first-class fixture.

“Coming here playing against the likes of Alastair Cook, (Nick) Compton, (Michael) Carberry, all of these guys. It's a great experience for all of us, and I think we’ve played some exceptional cricket over the three days.”

The Yorkshire squad return to Headingley in the early hours of Thursday morning ahead of their first match on English soil, starting a week on Tuesday.

They face Leeds/Bradford MCC Universities in a first-class three-day match, but they will be without their England six, who fly to the West Indies on April 2.