ANDREW Gale spoke glowingly of his Yorkshire players' character as they bounced back from defeat against Hampshire last weekend to hammer Warwickshire today.

The White Rose county are off the mark at the second attempt in this year's Specsavers County Championship, winning by an innings and 88 runs inside the first hour of day four at Edgbaston.

They claimed 23 points to hand Gale his first win as coach, with Ben Coad leading the way with stunning match figures of 10-102.

"It was a big game for us because we played really well last week," said Gale. "To not come away with anything was really disappointing.

"We wanted the lads to play the same cricket but improve.

"The difference was that we won the key periods of play in this game.

"When we went past them, we went on (381 in reply to 178 in the first innings). To get a 200-lead, that's ruthless, and I want us to be even more ruthless because one of the top six can go on and get a hundred.

"I'm really pleased because the lads showed a lot of character. I'm over the moon."

This victory sets Yorkshire up perfectly for Friday's blockbuster return clash with buoyant Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.

England duo Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root are available, meaning Andrew Hodd and Jack Leaning will almost certainly be the ones to miss out.

Yorkshire will, however, continue to be without injured seamers Jack Brooks, Liam Plunkett and Ryan Sidebottom.

Plunkett (calf) is likely to be fit for the start of the Royal London One-Day Cup campaign on Saturday, April 29.

But Sidebottom and Brooks are targeting a return to fitness in time for the fourth Championship match of the season against Lancashire on Friday, May 19.

Bairstow's availability for just the one Championship match at the start of the season following an order to rest by England has been the topic of much discussion recently.

England gave him permission to put his name forward for the ongoing IPL, but when he wasn't picked up in the auction, they made him unavailable for county duty.

On a Friday and Saturday, he was an in-studio guest for Sky Sports on their IPL coverage, adding to the frustration of the White Rose faithful.

"I was disappointed," said Gale of England's decision to rest the 27-year-old.

"I can see why someone like Rooty would want a rest given the amount of cricket he's played, but Jonny has played one one-day international since Christmas.

"He's played three days of cricket (including two warm-ups in India and the West Indies) in that time.

"For me, he should have been available right from the first game of the season.

"He had enough time off from the end of the West Indies trip, and I felt he should have been available.

"It does disappoint me, but that's just the way things are. This is part and parcel of being Yorkshire.

"We've always wanted to bring our home-grown players through, but if we do that they are going to get picked for England.

"We want our players to play for England, but when they're available we want them to play for us as well."

All England players are also available for the first three rounds of the RL50 ahead of the first summer one-day international against Ireland on Friday, May 5.