ANDREW GALE believes having two Roses rivals challenging at the right end of the Championship table is good for the county game.

The Yorkshire captain welcomes opposite number Steven Croft to Headingley on Sunday, with the all-rounder having led Lancashire to three wins from five matches and top spot in the Specsavers Division One.

Gale and company are fourth with one win and four draws. They are 19 points adrift of the old enemy, who were promoted last September.

The last time Yorkshire played Lancashire, they won by an innings at Emirates Old Trafford in late 2014 on the way to the first of their back-to-back titles. Lancashire were plummeting towards relegation.

Now, the Red Rose county are full of confidence and should provide Yorkshire with a stiffer challenge.

“It doesn’t surprise me that they’ve done so well,” said Gale.

“As with all teams in the division, I said from the outset that anyone can beat anyone. I guess that’s what makes this league so entertaining. If you’re not on your game, you get beat. It’s as simple as that.

“I saw Lancashire on pre-season, and they looked a well-rounded side.

“They’ve got a good bowling attack, an excellent overseas player (Neil Wagner) and experience in the top order with Alviro Petersen.

“All Roses games are usually crackers, but with the form they’re in and us coming off back-to-back Championships, I think it’s going to be a great game.

“It’s still early season, and you wouldn’t say that it’s a must win for either team.

“They’re playing some good cricket and we’re playing ok without being brilliant. We’re still in the chase, and it will be a good test for both sides.

“There’s people going to turn out this weekend given good weather, and they want to see good cricket and both teams going toe to toe.

“It doesn’t get much better than a Roses clash with each other challenging. That can only be good for English cricket.”

While Lancashire, who will rest Jos Buttler after IPL duty, beat Surrey inside three days earlier this week, Yorkshire had a week away from Championship action.

Their last fixture was against Somerset at Taunton when they were outplayed and were forced into a final day rearguard action with the bat in order to secure a draw.

“We felt that, as a group, bowling on the first day was going to give us the best chance to win. But that probably back-fired a bit because we didn’t bowl as well as we would have liked,” added Gale.

“We didn’t bat as well as we can either, and we were also a little bit sloppy in the field. We just dropped a little bit below our standards, and we’ve flagged it up.

“We know we’re not playing our best cricket. But we’re not too far off either.

“We’re still in the hunt without playing that well. There are individuals who need to stand up, me included, and get some runs and wickets.”

Yorkshire may have Tim Bresnan available for his first Championship match of the season after a lower calf tear. He plays in tonight’s NatWest T20 Blast opener with Leicestershire at Headingley.

Yorkshire squad v Leicerstershire: Lees c, Ballance, Bresnan, Carver, Coad, Hodd w, Leaning, Lyth, Patterson, Plunkett, Rashid, Rhodes, Wainman, Waite.