Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com. Seamer Amelia Love is one of six Academy players to have played senior cricket in Tier 2 this summer.
Jared Warner says the Yorkshire Women’s coaching staff are hugely excited by the depth of talent which the county has at their disposal below senior level.
Warner, the former Yorkshire and Gloucestershire men’s fast bowler, is almost two years into his role as a high performance coach at Headingley and has been working closely with the women’s pathway, Academy and first-team.
He is part of a coaching staff headed by senior head coach Rich Pyrah and includes Chris Brice as senior assistant coach and lead Academy coach.
Mark Harrison is the lead Emerging Players’ Programme coach, while James Martin is the over-arching head of the performance pathway.
Yorkshire’s senior women’s team are flying at present in Tier 2. They are well placed to end the season with two trophies having started their 50-over Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign impressively as well as qualifying for Vitality Blast Finals Day later this month.
Warner has been around that group and said: “After losing the first game of the season against Worcestershire at Headingley, it’s been pretty faultless really.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire high performance coach Jared Warner, a former men’s county fast bowler, has been working closely with the women’s Academy and pathway players this year.
“We’re winning a lot of games, and a lot of games comfortably. You can’t underestimate how big forging that winning habit is ahead of going into Tier 1 next year.”
However, the bulk of his commitments have come working with the younger players, helping to fill the gaps left when Brice has been on senior duty.
Below the first team, Yorkshire field an Academy team which plays friendlies against other counties. They have retained Tier 1 status at Academy level for 2025. The county also fields an Under 18s side who play in 50-over and T20 competitions alongside teams at Under 11s, 13s, and 15s.
“We’re very pleased with how it’s going,” said Warner.
“We have a young group at 18s and Academy level. There’s a few older ones in there, but predominantly it’s a young and new group.
“We’ve had some very good performances. We beat The Blaze, we beat Lancs in a T20 with a young side, including a 13-year-old. That was very pleasing.
Picture by Simon Wilkinson/SWPix.com. Chris Brice doubles up as the senior assistant coach for Yorkshire’s Women as well as their lead Academy coach.
“They’ve gelled really well, and there’s been some very good standout performances.
“With the 18s and the Academy, after exams have finished, there’s two to three games a week for the next couple of months. We’ll get to see the players a lot from now on, which is great. We can get a bit of momentum going.
“As coaches, we’re very excited about what the next two, three or four years looks like with this group.
“They’ve started the summer brilliantly, so we’re very pleased.
“We’ve had a lot of games for the Under 11s, 13s and 15s in the pathway.
“The 18s then have their own programme, and there’s the Academy on top of that as well. The 18s play in three competitions – two 50-over comps and a T20.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Academy batter Amelia Oliver in Vitality Blast action this summer.
“The Academies then play friendlies against different counties.
“In the Academy, you can play players who are older than 18.
“This year, there’s been no second-team cricket, so we’ve had the odd senior player dipping in as well when there’s not been much cricket or players are coming back from injury.
“It’s largely been a young team, and for their development, it’s been brilliant.
“We were down at Vipers (Hampshire) a couple of weeks ago, and they were a strong side. But we managed to beat them in a T20, chasing 150.
“Liv Breese, a 16-year-old on the EPP, got 65 not out. Things like that. People sticking their hand up and winning games against a team who had a rookie pro playing, we’re really pleased with.
Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com. Academy leg-spinner Holly Garton travelled on the county’s pre-season tour to Abu Dhabi in March and has played senior cricket this summer.
“Now, it’s exciting to see that more often over the next couple of months.”
While the Academy have claimed some impressive friendly victories, the Under 18s are going nicely in competition, particularly in 50-over cricket.
They have won three of four games in their regular County One-Day Cup and are top of a group including Durham, Cumbria and Northumberland. They are also into the quarter-finals of the Knockout County Cup and face Cheshire later this month.
Warner continued: “We’ve got so much depth.
“I get so excited because I see the younger end as well. With the Under 13s, what they’re doing is scary for that age.
“We played an Under 18s game the other week, and we picked a 12 and 13-year-old. They performed well.
Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com. Academy wicketkeeper-batter Ellie Nightingale has played Tier 2 cricket for both Yorkshire and Derbyshire this summer.
“We’re not afraid to pick younger players, and we just want to challenge them in different environments.
“A big thing from the top down, Rich and Bricey, is play with intent, bravery and freedom. We’re just trying to match that in the pathway.
“The beauty of it is that it’s all aligned under the Yorkshire banner. We’re trying to work together and get the same message across.
“I feel like we have a really good environment going where the players are enjoying it and thriving. Hopefully we’ll see a lot of players coming through over the next few years. That’s the aim.”
Wakefield-born Warner, 28, played the last of his 18 first-team county appearances for Gloucestershire in August 2022 and last played for their second team the following May.
It wasn’t long after that when he rejoined Yorkshire as a coach.
Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com. Seamer Elicia Pollard is another Academy product to have gained senior exposure in 2025.
During the early stages of his time back at Headingley, then Yorkshire men’s first-team coach Ottis Gibson actually enquired about the possibility of him returning to playing.
Warner laughs: “I don’t know how serious he was, but he was asking me to bowl in the nets and stuff, which I was very reluctant to do. I knew Ottis from my England Under 19s days. He was a coach one winter.
“We got on really well, and I think he was remembering me as a young bowler who had a bit. It’s very different now.
“But it was good to go and help out in that first-team environment with the men.
“The last two years have been great, getting different experiences.
“And I’m loving what I’m doing at the moment with the girls. I love working with Bricey, Rich, Mark Harrison and Jimmy Martin.
Picture by John Heald. Leg-spinner Olivia Thomas joined Yorkshire’s Academy this winter having previously played senior cricket for Lancashire and Thunder. She has impressed with ball and bat.
“I feel like we’ve got a really good team, a lot of trust between us, and we’re very much aligned to what the goal is and where we want to get this to go.
“I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed it a lot more than I did the last couple of years of my playing career.”
Yorkshire are obviously heading into Tier 1 ahead of 2026, but Warner believes the club will be able to reflect on 2025 with a lot of fondness when all’s said and done.
“It’s been a very good year,” he added. “Yes, we’re in Tier 2, but the amount of young players who’ve come in and performed, that will be outstanding for their development, getting that taste for senior cricket heading into Tier 1.
“This year has been a blessing because Rich has been able to get his feet under the table whilst working in Tier 2 where the pressure isn’t as a great.
“I look at it from the slant of the pathway and younger players getting opportunities. Amelia Love is just one. She took a four-for in her first game at 16.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. James Martin, the head of the performance pathway at Yorkshire.
“That probably wouldn’t have happened in Tier 1.
“Players like that are the future of the club.
“At the time, when the decision was made, it didn’t feel great. But now that it’s been going, I think it’s been a massive positive given the amount of exposure we’ve given to young players.
“We’ve very much made the most of this year to make sure we’re in a great place come next April.”
