The league cricket season begins across Yorkshire this weekend, and the county are watching.
During the winter, Yorkshire’s management announced plans for a scouting mission across the five Premier League competitions within the county, while the Yorkshire Women’s Premier League will also be monitored.
The five men’s competitions are the North Yorkshire South Durham League, the Bradford League, the Huddersfield League and the Yorkshire Premier Leagues North and South. They kick off across the next two weekends.
Yorkshire want to identify talent, concentrating on 17-22 years-olds, to boost the options within their senior squads.
Lead performance analyst Harrison Allen will monitor the leagues each weekend and provide regular reports to Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, men’s head coach Anthony McGrath, women’s head coach Rich Pyrah and James Martin, Yorkshire’s head of the performance pathway.
From there, identified players will be watched and potentially invited to training sessions at Headingley.
“Everybody who is here as coaches or management – myself, Anthony McGrath, John Sadler, Rich Pyrah, Chris Brice, the list goes on – we all started in the Bradford League at 16-years-old,” said Hamilton.
“Bar Mags, we all finished pro cricket and carried on playing afterwards in the Bradford League.
“It means a lot to us, and the passion for Yorkshire Cricket is strong across the leagues. The love for Yorkshire Cricket and the desire for us to do well is so apparent.
“We’re really excited to have the recreational game as part of our pathway.
“If you get some runs and wickets, you will be on the radar. You will get flagged.
“It’s incredibly exciting, and we wish all teams and players the very best when they get started this weekend or next.”
To find out more about Yorkshire’s mission, below you can read our announcement press release, an extensive Q&A feature with Gavin Hamilton and an Around The Leagues feature with Richmondshire captain Rob Carr, who has backed the move.
Richmondshire are the reigning Yorkshire Premier League play-off champions, having beaten New Farnley in last September’s final.
