Alex Lees and Liam Plunkett were the big winners from Yorkshire’s thumping three-day win over Leeds/Bradford MCC Universities at Headingley today, with a century and six wickets respectively.

At different stages of their careers, the pair were looking to cement a place in the team for Wednesday’s opening LV= County Championship match against Sussex.

And while skipper Andrew Gale confirmed that Plunkett has won his battle, it would be a major surprise if Lees has not as well.

This was only 19-year-old Lees’ third first-class match and it was a perfect time to score his maiden hundred – 121 off 278 balls – in an opening stand of 221 during the second innings with fellow centurion Adam Lyth.

Plunkett has played nine Test matches for England but his career has stalled during the last couple of years with Durham.

Again, he could have picked no better time to return career best figures of 6-33 from 11.5 overs as the students were bowled out for 121 inside 48 overs in pursuit of an impossible 416 in a little under two sessions yesterday afternoon and evening.

In fact, it came the day after the Middlesbrough-born player celebrated his 28th birthday.

Yorkshire ended up winning by a mammoth 294 runs, thanks to other wickets for Steve Patterson, Ryan Sidebottom and Azeem Rafiq.

Apart from the first session of the match on Friday, in which they lost seven wickets for 65, Yorkshire dominated proceedings, a thought Gale agreed with.

He went on to say: “We know all about Liam. He’s a big confidence bowler.

“We are just encouraging him to bowl as fast as he can. That’s when he’s at his best.

“He can change a game and we’ve seen it so many times before.

“I think it’s fair to say that the four seamers will be the four who go into the match on Wednesday.

“Alex has put his name in the hat. He’s got a hundred in this game and one in Barbados, so he couldn’t have done any more.”

Lyth also scored 111 and the hosts declared just after lunch on 289-2 with Joe Sayers (20 not out) and Gale at the crease.

From then on, it was one-way traffic as the students were reduced to 17-5 inside 12 overs. They did not recover.

In two fiery spells, Plun-kett removed opener Henry Thompson, Jonathan Webb, captain Luis Reece, Will Vanderspar, Charlie Mac-Leod and James Lee.