The below email was sent Members, 2020 ticket buyers and email database on Friday 12th June.
During this time of uncertainty, I would like to keep you updated with what is happening at The Yorkshire County Cricket Club and my understanding on the current prospects of playing cricket this summer.
The West Indies landing in Manchester earlier this week for the behind closed doors series was an encouraging sign for English cricket as we strive to host matches in a safe environment. This was hard to imagine a few weeks ago with the country in lockdown and strict social distancing measures in place, but this has given me more optimism when looking ahead at a potential domestic calendar. As a game, we owe a massive debt of thanks to West Indies Cricket for embarking on the tour at this time.
As your Yorkshire representative, I am in weekly contact with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the other 17 counties to discuss potential ways that we can stage cricket in 2020. The ECB are following the government guidelines daily and ensuring that we are prepared for all eventualities. These regular conversations will continue as we aim to get ourselves into the best possible position to play county cricket this summer.
I have seen that some counties have already released their plans regarding 2020 memberships. As a Club, we feel that it is best to communicate a matrix of options which will be available to Members once we understand what a rescheduled domestic season will look like. All options will be discussed at Board level and shared with the Members’ Committee for their thoughts before communicating this to Members. We have taken on board the many thoughts and suggestions of Members who have communicated with us.
When a rescheduled domestic season is announced, we will contact all Vitality Blast and Specsavers County Championship ticket buyers with information on the refund process or any other options that might be available to them.
Emerald Headingley is scheduled to host two England IT20 matches against Australia and Pakistan. The ECB announced last week that the Australia series has been postponed. By postponing this series, the ECB are allowing as much time as possible in the hope of staging matches at the original venues. Therefore, we will be unable to communicate any refund scheme until the point that a match is cancelled.
Similarly, for the Pakistan series, we are awaiting news from the ECB on whether this will still take place later this summer or behind-closed-doors. As soon as we have confirmation, we will communicate this to all ticket buyers.
In previous weeks, the Club have communicated to Members and supporters about the measures that it is currently taking to protect Yorkshire Cricket during this tricky time. The messages of support and understanding that we have received have been fantastic, so I’d like to thank you for your continued patience and understanding.
When we receive any further clarification from the ECB regarding what form cricket will take this summer, we will contact Members and ticket buyers.
Take care,
Mark Arthur
