ANDREW Gale recently said that he could make a decent case for every team in Division One of the County Championship winning the league.

The Yorkshire skipper was responding to questions about the strength of the top-flight.

He believes, like many others around the country, that with eight of the nine teams included being from international venues that it will be the strongest league he has ever been involved in.

Somerset are the odd ones out, and although their bowling attack is uninspiring, they have recruited Chris Rogers as captain to go alongside the likes of prolific batsmen Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth.

Still, the strongest case for winning the title remains with Gale’s back-to-back champions, who would write their name into the history books by winning three in a row.

No side has achieved that feat since Brian Close’s great White Rose side of the sixties.

Should Yorkshire triumph again, it will be this squad’s best achievement yet.

Winning your first title is a tough assignment for any squad, while winning the second was achieved in the face of adversity given they were without six England internationals for the early stages of 2015.

But coming out on top of a division loaded with heavyweights will top all of that.

Surrey and 2011 champions Lancashire have been promoted, while many others have recruited well on and off the field this winter.

The return of Peter Moores as Nottinghamshire’s permanent coaching consultant, for example, could be key given the way results turned around dramatically when he came in midway through last year.

However, for Yorkshire, while they will continue to be hit by England calls, instead of having to start without their internationals, they will at least be starting with them.

Joe Root is being rested from their opening two matches against Hampshire at Headingley and Warwickshire at Edgbaston before returning to the side for matches at Nottinghamshire and at home to Surrey before Test duties kick in.

The rest are available as and when Gale and coach Jason Gillespie see fit.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s return for a six-week spell through June and July is eagerly anticipated, and he will then be replaced by Australian batsman Travis Head, who captains South Australia and was recently named as the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year for 2015/2016.

Gillespie spoke last weekend about the need for improved consistency in their batting - and he is right. The county did not play their best cricket last summer despite winning the league at a canter.

If Yorkshire play their to their optimum, they will win the league again.

If they don’t, Warwickshire and Middlesex, the latter being the only team to beat them during the last two campaigns, seem to be their most likely challengers.

The signing of England limited overs all-rounder David Willey adds depth to the squad, although it remains to be seen how much four-day cricket he will play. Not necessarily due to international commitments, but because he might not be able to break into the team.

Karl Carver is improving as a left-arm spinner.

Yorkshire may well be looking at other options in the likes of former Essex leg-spinner Tom Craddock and off-spinner Alex MacQueen, who has played against them in the past for Leeds/Bradford MCC Universities, but Carver is in pole position to stand in for Adil Rashid when he is away with England.

This summer heralds a new dawn in Yorkshire’s limited overs cricket - at least that’s what the Vikings fans will hope!

Alex Lees has taken over the captaincy from Gale, and he has not hidden his determination to turn around their ailing NatWest T20 Blast fortunes.

A second-bottom finish in last season’s North Group was unacceptable, and that is a big part of the reason why Willey was signed.

He will most likely open the batting and the bowling for a side which will mix international talent with a number of youngsters.

The signs were good in Dubai last month when they retained their Emirates Airline T20 title, beating Blast champions Lancashire in the final.

Although we shouldn’t look too deeply into that competition due to the poor pitches used, the composure showed by bowlers Ben Coad, James Wainman and Carver was promising.

In one-day cricket, Yorkshire are not a millions miles away from cracking it.

They have reached the quarter-finals and the semi-finals in each of the last two Royal London one-day Cups, but they have just been let down by poor passages of play on the day.

Can the county win all three competitions this season? As unlikely as it is, it wouldn’t be a complete surprise to yours truly.