WARWICKSHIRE director of cricket Dougie Brown believes Yorkshire are favourites to win the LV= County Championship after seeing his side slip to another innings defeat to the White Rose outfit at Edgbaston.

Yorkshire, who completed victory by an innings and eight runs approximately 20 minutes after tea on day three as they bowled the Bears out for 186, consolidated their position at the top of Division One with six matches left to play.

If Nottinghamshire beat Somerset in their ongoing match, they will move to joint top on 142 points.

Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Patterson took three wickets each as Yorkshire completed their third innings triumph of the season.

Jack Brooks and 18-year-old debutant left-arm spinner Karl Carver added two victims apiece.

Brown reflected: "They look favourites at the moment. They have a good method and a good mood in their camp.

"I have probably just put the mockers on them. Let's hope I have!

"It's a very open Championship. They are the ones that have stolen a bit of a lead but I have always maintained that it's not how you start, it's how you finish."

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale, who was particularly pleased with his side's catching across the three days, admitted he was "flattered" by Brown's claim.

But he stressed the importance of not looking too far ahead and said: "There's still a long way to go.

"We probably got carried away a little bit last year into thinking about the Championship. There's still six games left and I keep hammering home about the basics and process.

"No-one has even spoken about the Championship. We just want to go about our business and win session by session."

Yorkshire's performance was very much a team effort. The wickets were spread around – and so were the runs, although their stand-out performer was obviously Australian batsman Aaron Finch with 110 on Monday.

Adam Lyth took two excellent catches at second slip, including a diving effort to his right to help Patterson get rid of Chris Woakes and leave the score at 133-6.

Patterson also took a superb one-handed return catch to get rid of Rikki Clarke shortly before tea.

Yorkshire now turn their attention back to the NatWest T20 Blast, with the Roses match against Lancashire at Headingley on Friday a 16,200 sell-out.