Yorkshire’s Anthony McGrath is set to start his 18th season in county cricket.

The former England Test and one-day all-rounder – who will almost certainly be named in the line-up to face Kent in the LV= County Championship Division Two opener at Headingley, starting tomorrow – will be writing a weekly column for the Telegraph and Argus throughout the summer.

This is a massive year for me.

Last year was one of my worst seasons on record in terms of form and injury.

I just never seemed to be fit throughout, which really did affect my form.

But I’ve had no ill effects with the injury, and I’m feeling really good and really refreshed.

I’ve got that determination to prove people who have written me off wrong.

I definitely use negative comments as something to drive me on.

I’ve been lucky enough to play at this club since 1995. And, if you play for that long, you are going to take a lot of criticism on the way. You’ve got to accept that and use it as a motivation tool.

There’s no problem with that – it’s part and parcel of professional sport. I’ve got to use that in the right way.

When things start going right, you’ve just got to hold your head up high and kind of smile.

There’s a really good atmosphere in the camp. It’s gone very well since Paul Farbrace and ‘Dizzy’ (Jason Gillespie) came in.

Everybody’s really confident ahead of the new season. You can see the buzz around Yorkshire at the moment.

There’s always expectation at this club.

Since the days I was watching from the Western Terrace to coming in and playing, it never changes. All the players are aware of that.

We know we let the club and the supporters down last year.

But there’s a steely determination, both individually and collectively, to put right the wrongs this season.

We know that if we play to our best consistently throughout the year, we’ll be a good team.

The other knock-on effect from the injury last year was that I wasn’t able to bowl too many overs.

I know that we’ve got a lot of options in that department, but I intend to work hard in practice.

If needed, I’m hopeful I can chip in with a couple of wickets at least.