Rollercoaster ride for McGrath

Anthony McGrath helped Yorkshire to promotion in the NatWest Pro40 this season

Promotion in the NatWest Pro40 and survival in Division One of the LV County Championship gave some gloss to a Yorkshire season which suffered its fair share of ups and downs.

All-rounder Anthony McGrath was pleased with the way his team started and ended the 2008 campaign, but thinks the middle part could have been better.

"We wanted to improve in one-day cricket and I think we have done that," he told ecb.co.uk.

"But obviously getting knocked out in the semi-final (of the Friends Provident Trophy) and the fiasco of the Twenty20 and then just staving off relegation, it looks a pretty disappointing season on paper."

Yorkshire's Twenty20 form - in which McGrath was the leading run-scorer in the country after the group stages - was exceptional before they suffered the ignominy of being thrown out of the competition due to an administrative error.

"We just couldn't believe it," McGrath admitted. "It was a bit of a bad dream."

"We turned up at Durham thinking we were going to play a quarter-final and an hour later we found out what had happened.

"It had a bit of a hangover with the players because everyone was so excited about the quarter-final and the the prospects of finals day and the Champions League.

"As a team we had lost the first couple of games, so to come back and do as well as we did - and being on such a high to have beaten Notts to qualify for the quarter-finals - for then that to be taken away from us, it was just soul-destroying for everyone."

McGrath was the country's leading run-scorer in the group stages of the Twenty20 Cup

But the club's success in the Pro40 managed to lift the players out of their malaise just when they needed it most and allowed them to play more freely.

"We knew that if we could get some momentum in that, it might help us kickstart the four-day stuff," McGrath said. "I think our form probably picked up since we did well in the Pro40."

Yorkshire confirmed their status in Division One of both league competitions, and the vice-captain admitted it was a big boost for the club.

"I think for the last couple of years we have not done ourselves justice," he said. "We were bottom of the 40-over league two years ago and not very high up last year.

"It was something we identified pre-season and, apart from the first game against Essex, we played really well in the Pro40."

Having gained promotion, Yorkshire then needed to make sure they stayed in the top tier of the championship.

"First division cricket is the place to play, particularly in the championship," McGrath said.

"It was particularly important coming into the last game (against Sussex) and from where we were at the end of the first day, it was a magnificent effort."

Yorkshire's heads were down on that final Wednesday of the season as they reached stumps on 84 for six in a shortened day.

"To be honest, we were fearing the worst," McGrath said. "We knew we had to get as many batting bonus points as we possibly could and on that first night it didn't look as though we were going to get any.

Playing in Division One of the County Championship is vitally important to both McGrath and Yorkshire

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"Going into that second day we were looking to get 200-250. But to get to 400 and then bowl them out for our maximum points was probably two of the best days cricket I have been involved with."

McGrath, who is 33 today, scored three as it was left to two of the younger brigade to get Yorkshire out of the hole in which they found themselves.

"David (Wainwright) has not played much in four-day cricket, so to get his first hundred for Yorkshire - not only in first-team cricket but also in second-team cricket - and to do it under that pressure was a fantastic effort," McGrath exclaimed.

"Adil (Rashid), as we know, is someone who has been tipped to play for England, and I am sure in the years to come he will fulfil that."

Ironically, if it hadn't been for a combination of rain and bad light on the first day of the match, Yorkshire could have been pushing for victory on the final afternoon.

But McGrath is not too despondent.

"Most teams have been affected by the weather," he said. "I think it is fair to say that if you play in the north then unfortunately you do get your fair share of rain.

"But Durham have shown that you can still win the league, so I wouldn't say it is to blame. It just goes to show how tight the league was this year.

"Going into the last game, four or five teams could have gone down. But we have stayed up and that is the most important thing.

"You have got to focus on your own club, and we are just glad to be playing first division cricket next year."