Azeem Rafiq is convinced Yorkshire will benefit from the confidence he gained while on a month’s loan with Derbyshire.

The off-spinner, 20, returned to Headingley prior to the start of the ongoing Friends Life t20 campaign, but only made his first appearance in last week’s Roses match against Lancashire at Old Trafford.

It was well worth the wait as he claimed 3-15 from four overs and then hit 11 runs off four balls to clinch a nail-biting two-wicket win in the last over.

And, ahead of tomorrow’s return clash at Headingley, the former England under-19s captain said: “I enjoyed every minute of it at Derby.

“I felt loved and wanted out there, and I managed to get a lot of first-class cricket in.

“I got to play regularly without having to worry about whether I was going to play or not. Knowing you’re going to play means you only have to worry about what you’ve got to do in terms of your skills.

“They gave me a lot of confidence, everyone at the club did. It helped my game massively, and I think I’ve come back to Yorkshire a lot more mature player.”

The White Rose county are gunning for a third Twenty20 win from four matches tomorrow, with the odd one out being an abandoned home clash with Northamptonshire on Sunday.

Rafiq was understandably delighted with his contribution as he silenced the majority of an 8,500-strong crowd at Old Trafford. There will be a bigger crowd at Headingley.

He continued: “I was over the moon. To get a chance to play in a Roses game in front of a big crowd and on TV was superb for a start.

“I’d have just taken that and a win, but obviously getting the winning runs and the wickets added to the whole feeling of it.

“We’re on a roll now, and hopefully can continue to get wins three, four and five as quickly as possible. It’s confidence more than anything else when it comes to Twenty20.”

The sides have played out two thrillers in both four-day and Twenty20 cricket this summer following the Championship match at Liverpool last month when Lancashire chased down 121 from the last 15 overs.

And that four-day defeat was definitely in their minds last week, according to Rafiq and captain Andrew Gale.

“The Lancashire and Yorkshire lads are really friendly,” added Rafiq, currently playing for the seconds against Derbyshire at Stamford Bridge.

“But, from what I heard, there was a little bit going on at Liverpool. There was a little bit of tension, so it was just nice to come out on the right side of it. Hopefully we can get another win.”

Gale said: “After what happened at Liverpool, it just hurt us. I thought Lancashire tried to bully us a little bit. We felt we owed them one.

“You want lads to be as competitive as possible because it’s a Roses match, and it should be hard fought. But it should be played in the right manner.

“It probably wasn’t at Liverpool.”