Forget the Clydesdale Bank 40 and the Friends Life t20 – we can live with disappointments in those competitions. But an improvement in Yorkshire’s LV= County Championship is imperative.

White Rose followers cannot live with disappointment in that, especially as northern neighbours Durham and Lancashire are fighting it out for the title at the other end of the table.

I might be jumping the gun with Twenty20 as Yorkshire can still mathematically qualify for the quarter-finals, despite being the model of inconsistency in the North Division so far.

But there will be few who will lose sleep during a cold and wet December if Yorkshire miss out on finals day, a trip to India for the razzmatazz of the Champions League or a Lord’s final for the CB40.

Relegation in the Championship, however, is a completely different matter. That would leave the Tykes faithful crying into their Christmas sherry.

Yorkshire have actually played some reasonable cricket in the Championship, with four England Lions call-ups during the winter showing they have the muscle to match the top teams in Division One.

But a whole host of injuries and loss of form to some key players, some of which have gone hand in glove, have cost Andrew Gale and Co.

Anthony McGrath was dropped last week and a similar fate was suffered by Adam Lyth earlier in the summer, while countless players have suffered injuries and Ajmal Shahzad has also suffered a drastic loss of form.

The main reason Yorkshire are struggling, however, can be traced back to Jacques Rudolph’s departure last September. I would wager that he has been missed more than anybody thought possible.

A banker for 1,000 Championship runs a season, the South African totted up more than 2,000 in all competitions last term.

But his decision to relinquish his Kolpak status with a year still to run on his deal at Headingley has had a couple of other knock-on effects.

It has left Gale and Martyn Moxon unsure as to what their best side is, which was just not the case last term.

Joe Sayers has been in and out of the side, while Joe Root has been flitting between an opener and number three. Gary Ballance, Yorkshire’s form player at present, did not even start the season. The other issue that Rudolph’s departure has caused is the lack of a trusted right-hand man for Gale to lean on. He was the perfect vice-captain for Gale – a laidback character with plenty of experience.

But the 27-year-old went into this term without a number two, expecting to be able to lean on the likes McGrath and Sayers for advice when he needed it. Both players, as already mentioned, have been in and out of the team.

Gale is still an excellent captain, and the right man to lead Yorkshire forward, but he has received criticism from some quarters as his side slipped into the top division’s bottom two.

Hopefully the break for Twenty20 has given the squad time to clear their heads ahead of next Monday’s return to Championship action against relegation rivals Worcestershire at Scarborough.

They have got to hit the ground running because defeat against the Pears will leave the Tykes firmly behind the eight-ball with only five games left to play.

If they do lose that match, then it really will be time to worry. Worcestershire may have won their last two Championship fixtures against Nottinghamshire and Hampshire but they are still a pretty poor lot and there for the taking.

Yorkshire could be boosted by the return of Tim Bresnan, who will need some four-day cricket ahead of the Test series against India, starting on July 21.