YORKSHIRE captain Andrew Gale heads to fortress Scarborough tomorrow to face Nottinghamshire delighted that his top order is starting to fire.

Gale has seen three of his top six batsmen score LV County Championship hundreds in six matches this season, including Adil Rashid’s three in his last three innings.

Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance have also reached three figures, while he believes himself, Phil Jaques and Joe Sayers are not that far away.

No other team in division has had more centuries than Yorkshire’s eight, although absent England duo Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow have scored three of them.

Gale hit 75 in last week’s draw against Somerset at Taunton after a difficult start to the summer, while Jaques has looked good in 40-over cricket despite not having scored a Championship fifty since the first match against Sussex in April.

Sayers is still fighting hard to find touch having not scored above 24 in four innings, and he is the only one unsure of his place with Alex Lees waiting in the wings.

Gale believes there is a marked difference to the way his fellow batsmen are performing this summer than during their last top-flight campaign in 2011, which ended in relegation.

“I think the most encouraging thing is that someone’s always standing up and doing the job,” said the 29-year-old.

“People say before the games ‘oh you’ll miss Rooty and Bairstow’, but Lythy got a hundred in the first innings (against Somerset), Adil’s in the form of his life, I got runs in the game and Jaquesy looks like he’s got a big score around the corner.

“Yes, Joe (Sayers) missed out, but it will be his turn next. That’s the crucial thing when you’re playing well, someone different stands up and does the job. If that happens, you always stand a chance of winning.

“Usually in 2011, one guy got 70 and everyone else failed. It showed against Somerset that there were a couple of hundreds, I got 70, Gary Ballance got 40 – everyone chipped in.

“If you’re going to win games in the first division, you need to put big totals on.”

The great thing for Yorkshire is that they can treat the return of Root and Bairstow, if that were to happen at any stage, as a bonus rather than having to rely on their runs due to the poor form of others.

“We knew the other lads had got to stand up, and they are doing,” continued Gale.

“I would be surprised if we see Rooty again this season.

We might see a bit of Jonny, we’re not sure. It’s an added bonus if any of the lads come back and play for us at all.”

Yorkshire head to Scarborough second in the Division One table.

They have only lost once in their last 18 Championship matches at North Marine Road dating back to September 2004. They have won seven of the other 17 fixtures, including two last year against Leicestershire and Gloucestershire.

“Over the years we’ve always done pretty well there,”

added Gale. “In my time I can only remember losing one game there. It’s a pitch we know how to bowl and bat on, and it’s a good wicket. We’re excited to go there.”