The late great Brian Close would have died a happy man a couple of Sundays ago knowing the current crop of Yorkshire cricketers had won back-to-back LV= County Championship titles.

When Andrew Gale lifted the trophy at Lord’s last weekend, he became the first White Rose captain to do it since the revered Close in the late 1960s.

Gale et al have already been mentioned in the same breath as the great Yorkshire team of the sixties, and understandably given the way they have dominated the competition.

They have already secured a record points haul of 265 in Division One cricket.

They only need two more points for a record haul in either division since the Championship moved from one 18-team league in 2000.

And should they beat Sussex at Headingley in their final match of 2015, starting today, they will have won eleven matches - more than any team has done in the two-division era.

The Yorkshire camp have already spoken about wanting to create a dynasty.

In a recent Northern Echo column, batsman Alex Lees insisted they will be training harder than ever before this winter to try and make it three in a row come the end of 2016.

But to be labelled as a truly great side, Yorkshire must add limited overs silverware to the cabinet.

There were signs of improvement against the white ball this summer. Wins against the defending champions in both Twenty20 and one-day cricket, Birmingham and Durham, were achievements of note, while a host of young players progressed their games.

Seamer Matthew Fisher was one of those, as was batsman Jack Leaning and all-rounder Will Rhodes.

Ultimately, it was a season of disappointment in both competitions. Yorkshire failed to get out of the North Division in Twenty20 for the third year running, despite the addition to their squad of Australian batting superstars Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell, who both underwhelmed.

They were also beaten semi-finalists in the Royal London one-day Cup by champions Gloucestershire after crumbling from a great position with the bat in that fixture.

Hopefully the signing of England limited overs all-rounder David Willey can provide the spark next summer.

Back to the Championship. This was a quite exceptional achievement. In many ways, it was different to 2014. In many ways, it was better.

They did not have the foundation built by openers Lees and Adam Lyth, and had to rely on individuals sticking their hands up at certain points to get the team out of a sticky situation or two.

While Yorkshire’s batsmen were exceptional last year, this time around it was the bowlers.

That is not to say there weren’t some impressive returns, however. Jonny Bairstow’s surge to 1,000 runs in only 13 innings leaves him in a great position to be honoured at the club’s end of season awards dinner next week, while Gale’s 908 runs from 15 matches with three centuries is worth high praise.

Led again by leading wicket-taker Jack Brooks, the White Rose bowling attack returned some inspiring performances. Warwickshire away springs to mind when Ryan Sidebottom returned eleven wickets in a match which saw the hosts blown away for 69 in the first innings.

It was in the heart of a run of six successive wins through the heart of the season, and had the feel of a defining week in the campaign given the Bears finished second last year.

Better? better because Yorkshire started the season without seven of their players due to England’s Test tour of the Caribbean and Gale’s ECB suspension for Improper Conduct.

The county had to get through the first three game with limited damage and kick on, and that’s exactly what they did. They hammered Worcestershire by ten wickets, with Steve Patterson taking five cheap wickets in the second innings.

They then drew matches against last year’s closest rivals Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge and Warwickshire at Headingley before putting their foot down on the accelerator and easing clear of the pack.

Rhodes stood in at the top of the order admirably for Lyth, while Leaning started a memorable summer like a house on fire with three centuries before the end of June.

Patterson is within five wickets of the first 50-wicket Championship campaign of his career, while Rolls Royce Sidebottom was exceptional again, despite missing ten weeks with a torn calf, as he moved towards 700 first-class career wickets.

That milestone was achieved during a sparkling first over of Yorkshire’s match against Middlesex at Lord’s earlier this month, a triple-wicket maiden.

What about Tim Bresnan. After being eased out of the England reckoning, Bresnan started the summer with a refined approach to the bowling crease and huge confidence with the bat in his hand.

Gale believes he could become one of county cricket’s great all-rounders with a regular return of 50 Championship wickets and 800 runs. He is ten wickets and only 22 runs away from that milestone, with his standout contribution of the summer a career best 169 not out in the away win at Durham.

All hail Yorkshire. We could be writing that sentence for a few years to come as well!