CAPTAIN Andrew Gale has challenged Tim Bresnan to maintain his excellent form with the bat for Yorkshire and become one of county cricket's most valued all-rounders.

Bresnan has made an impressive start to 2015 with bat and ball, taking 16 wickets in five LV= County Championship matches and adding 276 runs from the lower middle-order.

He returned a season's best bowling haul of 5-85 in the draw against Warwickshire at Headingley in late April and hit 100 not out off 136 balls in last week's draw against Somerset at Taunton.

It was only his fourth career first-class hundred, his first since 2007 when he scored his previous three tons, and it followed 83 in the opening-round win against Worcestershire at New Road.

Bresnan, 30, is currently in the top ten of the Professional Cricketers' Association most valuable players ranking for county cricket.

"I've said to him that he should be getting over 800 runs a season, definitely, and 40 or 50 wickets," said Gale, who is also Bresnan's brother-in-law.

"That's the role he could play for a long time. It would be similar to someone like a Mark Ealham.

"If England don't come calling, he can have a long, successful career for us at Yorkshire."

Bresnan has scored 614 Championship runs in 16 innings dating back to the start of last season, including five half-centuries and last week's hundred. He averages an impressive 40.93.

Gale said: "I know he enjoys his batting. The more he bats, the less he has to bowl – I'm sure that's the way he thinks about it.

"I think his ability has always been there. It's just playing regular cricket, getting to bat regularly.

"Probably when he was playing Test cricket, he was in and out of the England side for a long time. One-day cricket, you don't quite get the number of hits you do in county cricket.

"Maybe added responsibility on him as well has contributed."

Bresnan will hope that his good form secures him a place in England's one-day squad for their forthcoming series against New Zealand.

He played in last month's abandoned match against Ireland, taking one wicket, and the squad to face the Kiwis is due to be announced imminently.