NEW Yorkshire president John Hampshire believes it is fair to bracket the club's current team alongside the great side of the 1960s that he was a part of.

Hampshire's view is that, should a match take place between the two, his would come out on top due to their superior technique on uncovered pitches.

But the former international umpire, who has succeeded Dickie Bird at Headingley last week, has hailed Andrew Gale's back-to-back champions and said: "They'd give us a hell of a game. It would be a very good contest.

"People are already comparing them to our side of the sixties, which is difficult to do because of various factors. One is that we were playing on uncovered pitches and it was a slightly different game.

"Why this side is so good is because of England central contracts. When we were playing, the England players came back – Fred, Illy, Closey, Boycs. They all came back and played for us. This side, they don't get their England players.

"It's been very advantageous to the club to have a very good Academy and second team. I think this side is remarkable, simply because they're having to do it, more or less, on their own.

"I think we would come out on top, simply because they no longer have a technique of playing on uncovered pitches, but they're not far away in comparison because, as I say, they've done remarkably well.

"I go and watch and most people last year were absolutely astonished at the quality of cricket we were playing – even the umpires.

"Some of the guys who can vaguely remember when we were playing were saying to me 'they're nearly as good as you lot'. It's a great accolade.

"I would like to think they could win it again but they've raised the bar to such an extent that others are saying 'if Yorkshire can play that way, we've got to make sure we get up there'.

"Fitness and form are big things but I don't think there's a great deal to stop us."

Hampshire, a former Yorkshire captain and five-time Championship winner between 1962 and 1968, follows Bird on a two-year presidential term.

"I can follow in his boots, but not his back pocket," he quipped.

"With the history that Yorkshire's got, to finish up as president is remarkable.

"I had one thought when I started and that was just to play for Yorkshire. To play for as long as I did and to get to this status, it's wonderful."