Alex Lees column

This winter may have been the busiest of my career so far but it has been really good fun nonetheless in Australia and Sri Lanka.

I was looking to go away anyway this winter and play somewhere. I was fortunate enough to get selected on the England Performance Programme and it was all go from the end of October.

It has been a change from normal but touring is something I enjoy. You’re away from friends and family, which can be tough, but it obviously helps when its 30-odd degrees and not like Halifax!

You get into a routine. You have your playing days, your training days, you go out for dinner and go to different places. Probably the weirdest thing about touring is not driving for five weeks.

I managed to do quite a lot of work on my game and I managed to get some game time on the Lions tour in Sri Lanka.

I’d like to think I’ve come back to Yorkshire a better player ahead of the new summer.

I’ve had some quality time with some very good players and extremely good coaches. I’ve tweaked a couple of things in my game and worked on a couple of aspects that I believe will help me to become more consistent.

From Sri Lanka onwards in February, I feel the things I’ve changed have become a habit now, which is great.

At Yorkshire, we're blessed with a brilliant squad this year. On paper, some people are saying we have a good chance of winning the Championship.

But as we all know, you’ve got to start off well and look to maintain it throughout the year. Last year showed just how consistent you have to be. One or two slip-ups could be costly.

The strength of our squad is probably the reason why people see us as title challengers. Both in the bowling and batting, we’ve got quality throughout – added to our internationals who, if we have them around, it’s going to be tough selection.

I wouldn’t want to be the one who picks the team! I don’t think many people would, to be fair. I think we’ve got every base and every variation covered.

With the Championship games and how the fixtures have been arranged, there’s a good block at the start where we can concentrate on one format. Hopefully we can get some early momentum and, personally and team-wise, get on a roll and see where it takes us.