Yorkshire spin star Azeem Rafiq believes the club can become the kings of county cricket.

Rafiq helped the White Rose get their season off to an impressive start with figures of 5-21 from 20 overs in their two-day friendly against LV= Division Two side Derbyshire at the 3 Ws ground in Barbados.

Captain Andrew Gale will be leading an inexperienced squad this summer, with the general consensus being that 2010 will be a season of consolidation.

Yorkshire officials boast about having the best Academy structure in England, and only two of the 18 players currently on tour in the Caribbean are not products of that youth system.

Rafiq declared: “I genuinely believe if we can stick together for a year or two we could dominate English cricket. The talent’s amazing.

“We’re quite a young squad here, and most of us have played age group stuff together.

“This is the honeymoon period for us when everyone’s happy. It’s when we get to April and May in a season when the sides are getting picked, you’re getting runs and wickets, but you’re not getting selected. That’s when we have all got to stick together.

“I have a real belief we are going forward. Hopefully Galey and Martyn (Moxon) will take us in the right direction.”

Rafiq has spent the vast majority of the winter on England Under-19s duty, captaining the side in Bangladesh and at the World Cup in New Zealand.

Although England were knocked out in the quarter-finals by the West Indies, he said: “The World Cup was awesome. I absolutely loved it. I’ve not enjoyed playing cricket as much as I did out there.

“That experience will make me want to get to the top so much.

“I’ve got no doubt in my ability, but I’ve got to channel it in the right way.”

Rafiq, who shot to national fame in 2008 when Yorkshire were thrown out of the Twenty20 Cup due to issues with his registration, has not done his chances any harm at all.

He came on shortly before lunch at the 3 Ws, but only got among the wickets midway through the afternoon.

Steve Patterson bowled a miserly opening spell, while Oliver Hannon-Dalby claimed three wickets to reduce Derbyshire to 75-4.

The 19-year-old, who bowled in tandem with leggie Adil Rashid for large parts, then picked up the wickets of Lee Goddard, Dan Redfern (32), Jake Needham, Paul Borrington and Tim Groenewald.

Rafiq continued: “It was really good to get some overs under my belt.

“To get a five-for is great. I know it’s only a pre-season game, but a five-for’s a five-for.”

Yorkshire reached 23-0 at close on the first day.

Follow Yorkshire’s pre-season tour to Barbados on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tykestravels