Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. John Major is Yorkshire’s new lead Academy coach.
County Cup final appearances for both Yorkshire’s men’s and women’s Under 18s teams headlined a progressive last summer within the county’s Academy and Emerging Players’ Programme set-ups, and there is plenty of anticipation that 2026 can provide more to shout about.
The new summer is now in full swing across the majority of areas of the game within the Broad Acres, be it our county’s senior teams to recreational cricket. Disability Cricket will follow soon.
And we have been speaking to Yorkshire’s head of the performance pathway, James Martin, about what the new season looks like for the boys’ and girls’ Academies and EPP.
The programme for boys’ Under 18s cricket is largely unchanged. They will play friendlies in addition to competing in a trio of ECB competitions; the T20 Cup, one-day County knockout cup and the three-day Championship. Last summer, they were beaten in the final of the one-day tournament by Glamorgan.
For the girls, they play friendlies, including some red-ball cricket, in addition to featuring in the T20 Cup and the one-day County knockout cup. They were beaten in the final of the latter by Surrey in 2025.
“The girls started last weekend with some friendlies against Leeds/Bradford University and the boys this weekend just gone at Nottinghamshire,” said Martin.
“I think the lads’ programme, coupled with the second-team programme, is fairly robust.
“But my observation is that I don’t think the girls are playing enough cricket. So what we’ve done is pretty much double our match scheduled for them. We just want them to be playing more best v best cricket.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Jared Warner is Yorkshire’s new lead girls’ Academy coach.
“My vision for the Academy is I just want them to play more high-pressure cricket so that we can try and make the transition up to Tier 1 as easy as possible.
“We just want them, and the lads as well, to be playing games of cricket where there’s a real consequence if we lose. It’s not about the winning or losing, it’s about embedding that level of pressure. That’s why we really like the knockout County Cup format for both our Under 18s teams and right through the pathway as well.”
The Academy summer has started with John Major as the lead coach for the boys’ Academy and Jared Warner leading the girls.
“Jared started on November 1, and John at a similar time,” continued Martin. “They’ve both been with us for some time, but they’ve settled in to their new roles very well.
“We then have a number of high performance coaches who work alongside John and Jared, and we’ve just appointed Ryan Smith as a new early-engagement lead with the boys’ Under 10s to Under 13s.”
Signs of progression are evident with both programmes.
Look at the girls, for example. Sixteen-year-old all-rounder Ines Blackwell opened the batting for the first team in two of the first three Metro Bank One-Day Cup games having impressed on the pre-season tour to Potchefstroom. She is likely to get plenty more first-team opportunities in 2026.
“Full credit to her,” said Martin, who praise was matched by some more from Jess Jonassen after victory against The Blaze on Saturday. “She’s wintered well, and she’s a great character around the group.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Ines Blackwell at the crease for Yorkshire’s first team against The Blaze on Saturday.
“We always pinch ourselves that she’s still only 16, because the way she acts and her mannerisms are far above that of a 16-year-old. You then couple that with her skill. She played a part with the ball in Tier 2 last year and has now opening the batting in Tier 1.
“We’ve just recently had her appraisal while she was out in South Africa with Jared, myself and Mark Harrison (lead EPP coach), and something we brought up was that she has the level of skill but also that level of game sense and awareness.
“Coupled together, that allows her to go and play Tier 1 cricket at 16-years-old.
“That’s the thing that sets her apart from many players across the country, if we’re being honest.”
Batter Amelia Oliver has just completed a tour to Australia with the England Under 19s.
“The experience she’ll get from that is second to none, and hopefully that translates into performances with us as a county,” said Martin.
Then, from the boys’ Academy, two of the players who have transitioned through to senior professional rookie contracts since the middle of last summer, Will Bennison and Jay Singh, have caught the eye in particular.
Batter Bennison went to the Under 19s World Cup in Zimbabwe and just last week was named as the Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year. Jonny Bairstow was the inaugural winner in 2008, followed by the likes of Jacob Bethell and Jos Buttler.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Academy fast bowler Bradley Sylvester, who spent his winter playing club cricket in Australia.
Fast bowler Singh was also involved with the Under 19s over the winter and impressed on the senior pre-season tour to Desert Springs last month before taking four wickets in the two-day friendly against Essex at Chelmsford.
“What Will has done is brilliant, debut in the first team last August, and he’s really built on that,” added Martin.
“It was also great to see Jay get his rewards down at Chelmsford”.
“My message to Alex, Jay, Jawad Akhter, Matty Firbank, Will, Owen Smith, Charlie Taylor, Noah Kelly – all the lads who have signed pro deals in the last year or two, Olivia Thomas with the girls as well – it’s, ‘Just keep performing’.
“It’s just about having that drive to keep performing and not settling for second best.”
