Yorkshire women’s coach Ben Silver has welcomed the increased schedule for his side during the forthcoming summer, the county side playing 11 fixtures across T20 and 50-over cricket in the ECB’s County Championship competitions.
Instead of being involved in only a handful of T20 fixtures throughout April and May – as has been the norm for the last few seasons – Yorkshire will now play competitive matches from late April to the middle of August.
“The women’s county game has to be representative of the regional professional game,” said Silver.
“If it’s going to be used as adequate preparation for players playing regional (Northern Diamonds) Academy cricket or suitable preparation for those more senior who are maybe not getting as much game time as they’d like with the Diamonds, it has be the same formats that they play.”
Through no fault of their own, Yorkshire’s women only played two matches in last season’s Championship competition, which was limited to T20 matches during April and May.
Picture courtesy of Ben Silver, the coach of Yorkshire’s women’s team.
All six group matches were washed out before they won one and lost one at the Group 1B Finals Day at Casterton School in Sedbergh, beating Cumbria and losing to the North East Warriors.
“Last year was a real shame because we went over to Northern CC in Lancashire and it rained all day, and that set the tone,” continued Silver.
“We missed out on the first round of the T20s, and it carried on from there with the rain.
“There have been requests from the counties to have a 50-over and T20 competition set up by the ECB.
“Some of the counties had set up their own regional competition, but it’s obviously really nice to have something we can play in which is led by the ECB.”
The likes of the retired Katherine Sciver-Brunt and current Diamonds stars Hollie Armitage, Bess Heath, Katie Levick and Lauren Winfield-Hill to name just a few have all starred for Yorkshire in the past.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Hollie Armitage (l) and Lauren Winfield-Hill both starred for Yorkshire’s women earlier in their careers.
Their presence in this team has become more and more limited due to the progression and professionalism of the regional game in this country.
But, as Silver alluded to earlier, the county side remains a vital part of the women’s cricket food chain.
He continued: “We also have to remember that there will be players playing who haven’t progressed through to regional cricket, but they are more than capable of playing county cricket. And they rightly deserve a schedule which is suitable for them.
“This is certainly a really positive step forwards.”
Silver is a high performance pathway coach at Headingley who also combines duties with his head coaching role with England’s Physical Disability team.
The Championship will be split into two separate competitions.
Yorkshire will play seven T20 matches, leading to finals on August 24 and 25. Six of the T20 fixtures will be played across a trio of double header days.
The 50-over side of things will be four fixtures in a group only competition, with four fixtures played. Yorkshire are in Group One alongside Derbyshire, Lancashire, North East Warriors, Nottinghamshire, Scotland, Shropshire and Staffordshire in both competitions.
The county will start with a 50-over away game against the North East Warriors on Sunday April 21.
Silver added: “We can’t wait.
“It will be really exciting because we have plenty of talent right throughout our pathway structure at Yorkshire, through into the Diamonds Academy.
“It will definitely provide plenty of opportunities for players to perform.”
A number of players in the Northern Diamonds structure are also likely to represent the North East Warriors added to those representing Yorkshire.
FIXTURES…..
Sun April 21 North East Warriors, 50 overs, TBC
Mon May 6 Lancashire, 50 overs, TBC
Sun May 26 North East Warriors and Cumbria, T20, TBC
Sun June 16 Lancashire and Derbyshire, T20, TBC
Sun June 30 Scotland, 50 overs, TBC
Sun July 14 Derbyshire, 50 overs, TBC
Sun July 28 Nottinghamshire – two games, T20, TBC
Sun August 11 Scotland and Staffordshire, T20, TBC
The county are pleased to announce that registration for Yorkshire senior women’s Observations Days for the 2024 season are NOW OPEN.
Yorkshire senior women’s Observations Days are open to all. Note: There are no requirements to be recommended for the 2024 observations.
Sign-up Link
To sign players up, please visit the following link, completing all areas of the online form:
https://forms.office.com/e/6BWjjhJ77J
Dates and Venues
The observations will take place on the February 11 (3-5pm & 5-7pm) in the East Stand at Headingley Stadium.
Deadline for Sign-up – Wednesday February 7.
Following observations there will be training sessions for selected players on:
– March 3, 10, 17 at Headingley, East Stand
– April 10, 17 at Outdoor Venue TBC
If you have any questions or queries relating to any of the above information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Ben Silver on [email protected].
