Yorkshire CCC seeks the views of members on the Domestic Structure Review

The Board of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club seeks the views of its members on the proposals for the future of the men’s domestic structure.

The Professional Game Committee (PGC) has developed a series of options for the First-Class Counties to consider, following consultation with a range of key stakeholders. These options are detailed below, alongside the Club’s plans for capturing the views of its members so that these can be reflected in the way the Club votes.

The Club has been delighted to see a significant growth in its membership numbers over the last few years, with more than 10,000 members now signed up across all the categories, and it is imperative that their views are heard. The Board is aware of the results of the members’ vote during the last domestic review in 2022 and that a resolution passed by members at that time requires a further resolution to be passed unless the Club’s chair is to oppose any permanent reduction in the number of First-Class County Championship fixtures going forward.

The Board is committed to representing the Club’s members and respecting their views. The timelines confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) this week unfortunately do not allow for an extraordinary general meeting to be convened with the required notice period before the Club is required to submit its vote on the structure review. As such, the Board is instead requesting that members participate in the engagement phase outlined below and commits that the Club will vote in accordance with the views received through this engagement.

Engagement process

To ensure the Club can hear the views of as many members as possible, the Club encourages you to engage with as many of the options below as you can.

Engagement phase:

• Members are invited to give their views as part of the annual members’ survey, which has been emailed to members. It will also be possible for members to pick up a paper copy of the survey at Sunday’s T20 double header from the Long Room. The first section is dedicated to the domestic structure review.

• The Club will host a question-and-answer session in the East Stand Long Room at Headingley on Sunday 13 July between the two fixtures. Scheduled to start at 2pm, members will hear from General Manager of Cricket, Gavin Hamilton and Head of Marcomms, Sam Gascoyne.
• The Club will be meeting with the Members’ Representative Group (MRG) to discuss the proposals and gain further insights from the membership.
• A Members’ Forum will take place in Scarborough on Wednesday 30 July. Although the Club will already have submitted its vote on the structure review by the date of this forum in accordance with the results of the members’ survey and other engagement, members will be able to ask more questions about the proposals.

The options

Rothesay County Championship

The PGC has developed five prospective options for the Rothesay County Championship schedule for the 2026 season and beyond. They are summarised in the below table:

Vitality Blast

The ECB and the PGC have agreed on one proposal for the Vitality Blast that would see YCCC play six home games, with a regional group of six accounting for 10 of the group stage games, and a further two fixtures against teams in other groups to enable fixtures to be played against a variety of other counties.

The competition would run from May to July with the quarter finals and Finals Day taking place before The Hundred starts.

The regional group for YCCC would be:

Metro Bank One Day Cup

The current proposal does not include any change to the 50-over competition, which will continue as eight group games played alongside The Hundred.

The players’ view

A review by the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) has confirmed that players feel they are being pushed to their limits across all formats, and the vast majority of players are in favor of meaningful change. The current volume of matches, coupled with extensive travel, have left players physically and mentally stretched. Many feel they are unable to perform at full capacity, and this is directly impacting both mental health and physical wellbeing.

According to a consultation by the PCA:

• 83% are concerned about physical health
• 67% worry about mental well-being
• 72% believe the current schedule does not support high performance

A message from the Club’s Board

Yorkshire CCC’s Chair Colin Graves said: “The Board of the Club is looking forward to working with our members to establish the Club’s position with regards to the proposals put forward by the Professional Game Committee.

“This is a crucial time for the game as we look to ensure that the domestic schedule facilitates a thriving county game, with highly competitive teams that help to develop the next generation of players for England.

“The research and insights provided by the PCA on behalf of the players tell a compelling story of the challenges facing our elite teams and I’m sure our members will want to know more about this over the coming weeks.

“There is a huge amount of passion for the county game, not least in Yorkshire, and we remain committed to being transparent with all our stakeholders. As a Board, we believe that the Vitality Blast needs a better structure that provides greater narrative to the competition and is easier to follow, and as such we are open to a change in the format with fewer games and the final stages of the competition taking place before The Hundred. This should also help to reduce travel issues for players.

“The County Championship remains the pinnacle of the county game and, whilst we understand the need to look at the competition structure, we are steadfast in our views that it must remain conducive to high-quality cricket that provides the next generation of Test Match players. As a key stakeholder, we believe the views of our members are pivotal to its development.

“I would urge all of our members to please take the time to engage with us on this subject over the coming weeks and we look forward to speaking to many of them.”