Martyn Moxon is confident Yorkshire’s limited overs cricket is improving, although he has stressed their need to nail the big moments if they are to be celebrating with more silverware come the end of 2015.

The White Rose county had opportunities to add white ball glory to their LV= County Championship success last summer.

They needed to win one out of their final two group matches - both at home against Birmingham and Nottinghamshire - to qualify for the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast, but lost both, including against Notts when defending 201.

Yorkshire then lost a home quarter-final against eventual Royal London one-day champions Durham when, chasing 238, they slipped from 133-2 to 206 all out.

Director of professional cricket Moxon had earlier seen the side bowled out for 95 by the same opponents in a crucial T20 Blast defeat when chasing only 124 at Headingley.

Moxon was speaking in the United Arab Emirates, where Yorkshire are in the midst of their pre-season tour and are preparing for a clash with arch-rivals Lancashire in the semi-final of a T20 Finals Day like Emirates Airline T20 tournament at the Dubai Sevens venue tomorrow (6am UK).

“Last year we should have qualified for the quarter-finals of Twenty20,” he said.

“We had opportunities and got ourselves into positions to win games - Notts, Warwickshire and Durham all at Headingley are the ones that stand out.

“That was disappointing, although I think our Twenty20 play last year was better than in previous years.

“We certainly improved, but we just didn’t take those opportunities to nail it. Overall, our whole one-day cricket was better than it was in 2013, yet still not good enough.

“We’ve got two fantastic Twenty20 overseas players in Finch and Maxwell, who are match winners in their own right. Add them to what we’ve currently got on our own staff, and we should have a very strong team on paper.”

The winners of Sussex versus an MCC side including ex-Yorkshire overseas player Yuvraj Singh await the Vikings or the Lightning in tomorrow’s final.

The Red Rose were beaten finalists in last season’s T20 Blast, and Moxon continued: “Lancashire are a good side, who have played well in this format for some time.

“They are under a new regime with Ashley Giles as coach, and they’ll be wanting to impress. It will be a good test for us and a good game for both teams.”

A win or two tomorrow will certainly build confidence ahead of the new season and, in particular, the start of Twenty20 proper in mid-May, although results are not the be all and end all for Moxon, coach Jason Gillespie and captain Andrew Gale, who is carrying a hamstring niggle.

“It is pre-season, and while you want to try and win every game you play, you have to look at the bigger picture,” added Moxon. “We’re out here for two weeks, and there’s a lot we want to fit into that two weeks.

“This is the very start of our preparations, and although we’re not going to lose any sleep if this competition doesn’t go to plan, there’s no question that we will be trying to win.”

Yorkshire also play a Twenty20 match against Middlesex in Abu Dhabi today.