Yorkshire County Cricket Club

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Yorkshire
Established	1863
First-Class Debut	v Surrey County Cricket Club at The Oval on June 5, 1863
Captain	Darren Gough
Coach	Martyn Moxon
County Titles	34 (shared 2 times)

Yorkshire County Cricket Club, who represent the historic county of Yorkshire, are one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure. Their limited overs team is called the Yorkshire Phoenix.

The club plays most of their home games at the Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds. The club have another significant venue at North Marine Road, Scarborough, which houses the annual Scarborough Festival. Yorkshire has also played games around the county at various locations: notably at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, which was the club's original home; Horton Park Avenue, Bradford; St George's Ground, Harrogate; Anlaby Road, Hull; and Acklam Park, Middlesbrough.

[edit] Honours

Champion County (2) - 1867, 1870; shared (1) - 1869
County Championship (30) - 1893, 1896, 1898, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1905, 1908, 1912, 1919, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1946, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 2001; shared (1) - 1949
Gillette/NatWest/C&G Trophy (3) - 1965, 1969, 2002
Sunday/National League (1) - 1983
Twenty20 Cup (0) -
Benson & Hedges Cup (1) - 1987

[edit] Second XI honours

Second XI Championship (4) - 1977, 1984, 1991, 2003; shared (1) - 1987
Second XI Trophy (0) -
Minor Counties Championship (5) - 1947, 1957, 1958, 1968, 1971

[edit] Other honours

Fenner Trophy (3) - 1972, 1974, 1981
Asda Challenge (1) - 1987
Ward Knockout Cup (1) - 1989
Joshua Tetley Festival Trophy (6) - 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998; shared (1) - 1992
Tilcon Trophy (1) - 1988
Under-25 Competition (3) - 1976, 1978, 1987
Bain Clarkson Trophy (1) - 1994

[edit] Records

Record Totals

Highest Total For - 887 v Warwickshire at Birmingham 1896

Highest Total Against - 681-7 declared by Leicestershire at Bradford 1996

Lowest Total For - 23 v Hampshire at Middlesbrough 1965

Lowest Total Against - 13 by Nottinghamshire at Nottingham 1901

Batting

Highest Score - 341 George Hirst v Leicestershire at Leicester 1905

Most Runs in Season - 2883 Herbert Sutcliffe in 1932

Most Runs in Career - 38561 Herbert Sutcliffe 1919-1945

Best Partnership for each wicket

1st - 555 Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe v Essex at Leyton 1932

2nd - 346 Wilfred Barber and Maurice Leyland v Middlesex at Sheffield 1932

3rd - 323 Herbert Sutcliffe and Maurice Leyland v Glamorgan at Huddersfield 1928

4th - 312 David Denton and George Hirst v Hampshire at Southampton 1914

5th - 340 Edward Wainwright and George Hirst v Surrey at The Oval 1899

6th - 276 Maurice Leyland and Emmott Robinson v Glamorgan at Swansea 1926

7th - 254 Wilfred Rhodes and David Burton v Hampshire at Dewsbury 1919

8th - 292 Bobby Peel and Lord Hawke v Warwickshire at Birmingham 1896

9th - 192 George Hirst and Schofield Haigh v Surrey at Bradford 1898

10th - 149 Geoff Boycott and Graham Stevenson v Warwickshire at Birmingham 1982

Bowling

Best Bowling - 10-10 Hedley Verity v Nottinghamshire at Leeds 1932

Best Match Bowling - 17-91 Hedley Verity v Essex at Leyton 1933

Wickets in Season - 240 Wilfred Rhodes in 1900

Wickets in Career - 3608 Wilfred Rhodes 1898-1930

[edit] Earliest cricket

For information about Yorkshire cricket before the county club was founded, see : Sheffield Cricket Club

The earliest known references to cricket in Yorkshire are as late as 1751. These relate to local matches in Sheffield and to a game on or soon after Monday 5 August at Stanwick, near Richmond, between the Duke of Cleveland’s XI and Earl of Northumberland’s XI (the same teams had earlier played in Durham and this is Durham's earliest cricket reference).

On Tuesday 7 July 1761, the Leeds Intelligencer (now the Yorkshire Post) announced a game to be played at Chapeltown the following Thursday (9 July) and this is the first game we know of in the Leeds area.

Sheffield quickly became the main centre for cricket in Yorkshire. In September 1757 a match took place between Wirksworth and Sheffield at Brampton Moor, near Chesterfield. This is the earliest reference to cricket in Derbyshire. It may also be the earliest indication of the Sheffield club that eventually became Yorkshire CCC. Sheffield are recorded in matches against Leeds in 1765 and, more significantly, against Nottingham Cricket Club in August 1771.

The Sheffield club continued to play first-class games into the 19th century. In 1833, the team is referred to as Yorkshire for the first time and in 1849 we find the first Yorkshire v Lancashire Roses Match.

[edit] Origin of Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club XI in 1895, captained by Lord Hawke

On 7 March 1861, a Match Fund Committee to run Yorkshire county matches was established in Sheffield, which had by then been the home of Yorkshire cricket for nearly 100 years. It was from this fund that Yorkshire CCC was founded two years later. This was an exact parallel with the formation of Sussex CCC from a similar fund (1836 - 1839).

On 8 January 1863, the formation of Yorkshire CCC was agreed at a meeting of the Sheffield Match Fund Committee in the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield. The club was originally based at Bramall Lane, Sheffield. Its current base at Headingley in Leeds was first established in 1888.

Yorkshire CCC played its initial first-class match versus Surrey at The Oval on 4, 5 & 6 June. It was a rain-affected draw, evenly balanced. The first captain was Roger Iddison. Mr Michael Ellison was the club's first President and his financial support kept the club afloat in its early years. It was not all plain sailing. In 1865 5 players, George Anderson, George Atkinson, Roger Iddison, Joe Rowbotham and Ned Stephenson refused to play against Surrey after a dispute over the action of a Kent bowler, their colleague in an all-England match against Surrey. Anderson never played for Yorkshire again.

[edit] Ground history

As with all county cricket clubs, Yorkshire CCC represents the historic county and not any modern or current administrative unit. In Yorkshire's case, this means the three ridings and the City of York, although the club played some home matches outside the historic borders at Abbeydale Park in Sheffield from 1974 to 1996.^[1] ^[2]

Yorkshire first played at North Marine Road, Scarborough in 1878. This is the venue for the annual Scarborough Festival matches.

Headingley - East Stand

The club was founded on January 8, 1863 in the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield based at Bramall Lane. Headingley in Leeds was first established in 1888. Test cricket was first played at Headingley in 1899 eight years later than it hosted its first ever first-class game against Kent County Cricket Club in 1891. From 1891 the club's headquarters moved to Headingley, although 'out grounds' in Hull, Sheffield, Bradford, Middlesbrough and Harrogate were used with great success until recent years.

A move to a new site near Wakefield was mooted but, despite an expensive publicity campaign, this foundered on Yorkshire's inability to secure a cost-effective break of their lease on the ground. Yorkshire currently play most of their home matches at Headingley with two profitable festival weeks in the east coast holiday town of Scarborough.

On 31 December 2005 Yorkshire County Cricket Club purchased the cricket ground for £12 million with the help of a £9 million loan from Leeds City Council. This purchase ensures that Test Cricket continues at the venue with a 15 year staging agreement. On 11 January 2006 the stadium was officially renamed the Headingley Carnegie Stadium as a result of sponsorship from Leeds Metropolitan University and the club announced plans on the 11th January 2006 to rebuild the stand next to the rugby ground with 3,000 extra seats, taking capacity to 20,000 ^[3]. The club also announced plans to redevelop the Winter shed (North) stand on 25th August 2006 providing a £12.5Million Pavillion Complex ^[4].

[edit] Golden years

Yorkshire won all seven of their matches in 1867 and their first, unofficial, County Championship. Lord Hawke was appointed Captain in 1883, bringing much needed authority and discipline to an often fractious side. One of the great early figures in the game, Lord Hawke was captain for 28 years, later becoming Yorkshire President and President of MCC.

Yorkshire played their first game at Headingley in 1891 and two years later a major reorganization of the Club saw its center of operations shift from Sheffield to Leeds. They dominated the early county championship. In 1896 Yorkshire amassed the highest score in county cricket - 887 against Warwickshire at Birmingham and from 1900 to 1902 Yorkshire lost only two Championship matches of 80 played.

Yorkshire went through the 1908 season unbeaten and bowled out Northamptonshire out for 42, the lowest aggregate score in English cricket (27 and 15). Lord Hawke resigned as Captain in 1910 and it took the Great War interrupted Yorkshire's long run of success. Yorkshire won the first post-war Championship in 1919, a year which saw the debut of the great Herbert Sutcliffe and well as Yorkshire legend Emmott Robinson.

Yorkshire remained the dominant force in the County Championship until the Second World War, often dismissing lesser sides without recourse to a third day's play. The kingpin of much of this success, Wilfred Rhodes retired in 1930, taking 73 wickets and scoring 478 runs in his final season at the age of 53. JM Kiburn wrote in the Yorkshire Post: "He had bowled at W.G. Grace, and he bowled at Don Bradman. At 20, at 30, at 40 and at 50 he had shown himself master of his world, and his kingdom was never usurped." This collosus was hardly missed however as the brilliant Hedley Verity, another skillfull slow left armer, dominated a decade of featherbed batting pitches. The Yorkshire batsmen prospered with Percy Holmes and Sutcliffe put on a record opening stand of 555 against Essex at Leyton in 1932.

The immaculate Herbert Sutcliffe formed a famous opening partnership with Surrey great Jack Hobbs for England, while Wilfred Rhodes and George Herbert Hirst rank with the finest all rounders the game has ever produced. A 22 year old Len Hutton scored a then world record 364 against Australia at the Oval and returned after the war, despite a serious arm injury, to become England's first professional captain and prove himself perhaps the most complete opening batsman since Jack Hobbs.

Yorkshire won the first post-war Championship and mercurial spinner Johnny Wardle made his debut while Bob Appleyard became the first bowler to take 200 wickets in his first full season in 1951. The 50s were dominated by Surrey's unbroken hegemony hegemony and stern action was taken. Billy Sutcliffe, Herbert's son, lost the captaincy to 39 year old Bradford League veteran Ronnie Burnet and Wardle was sacked for his 'general behaviour' and writing an article deemed critical of the club. Yorkshire finished out of the top ten for the first time ever in Burnet's first season, but in his second and final stint the club regained the County Championship.

The sixties saw a new Yorkshire team emerge and dominate the first class game. Brian Close was made Captain in 1963 and won the Championship in his first season. Immaculate right-hander Doug Padgett, obdurate opener Geoff Boycott, canny off spinner Ray Illingworth, ever present keeper Jimmy Binks, belligerent left hander Brian Close, hard hitting Jack Hampshire and 'Fiery' Fred Trueman combined in one of the great county teams. As this team began to break up however, Close was controversially sacked in 1970 and there began a long-running current of unrest in the Club. There was sadness too in 1973 when Bramhall Lane, the first home of Yorkshire CCC, was closed after over 400 first class matches.

[edit] Starting to struggle

Geoff Boycott captained Yorkshire for most of the 1970s, but success eluded the team, even when Boycott forswore test cricket for 3 years to concentrate on the county game. He was sacked as captain amid much furore after the 1978 season. There were endless problems in a faction ridden dressing room and problems between the Committee and some leading players. 1982 saw a bizarre move in which team manager Ray Illingworth, who had returned to manage the club from Leicestershire, replaced Chris Old as Captain, at the age of 50.

Yorkshire finished bottom of the 17-strong County Championship for the first time in 1983 but won the John Player later National) League) for the first time. Geoffrey Boycott, one of Yorkshire's most iconic players, was not offered a new contract. There was a public outcry, the General Committee resigned, and Boycott eventually was reinstalled as a player - having already been elected to the Committee. Brian Close became Chairman of the Cricket Committee.

In 1984-1985 Team Manager Ray Illingworth was removed from his post, and Boycott was made Vice-Captain. In 1987 Yorkshire, under new Captain Phil Carrick, led the Championship table in mid-summer, and won the Benson and Hedges Cup. Carrick resigned his post in 1989 in a letter to the Committee which urged the recruitment of an overseas professional.

After long having a policy of playing on many 'out' grounds, Yorkshire decided in 1997 to limit play to Scarborough and Headingley. A majority of members supported a plan to build a new ground near Wakefield, but this never came about.

[edit] Signs of revival

Headingley - West Stand

More recently paceman Matthew Hoggard and Manchester born England captain Michael Vaughan have proved major stars for county and country alike, both of them making major contributions to England's recovery of The Ashes in the 2005 season.

In clinching the match against Glamorgan at Scarborough in 2001 the club won its first County Championship since 1968 under the flinty captaincy of locally born David Byas (who returned in 2005 as director of cricket). A poor season followed in 2002 however and the County was relegated to Division Two of the championship. This disappointment was tempered by a memorable victory over Gloucestershire in the final of the C&G Trophy at Lord's. A financial crisis forced extraordinary general meeting, at which General Committee was replaced by a Board of Management.

A fine Division Two Championship season in 2005, where they remained unbeaten until the last game, meant promotion and Yorkshire began 2006 once again in Division One.

Colin Graves, Chief Executive for three years and chairman of the Club's leading sponsor, Costcutter, was replaced as Chief Executive by Stewart Regan, but retained his place on the Board, becoming Chairman.

[edit] Current situation

In the 2006 County Championship Yorkshire survived relegation in the last match of the season against Durham. A score of 677-7dec against Durham combined with Nottinghamshire's innings and 245 run defeat by the champions Sussex meant that Yorkshire finished 6th, 2 places and 1 point above the relegation zone.

After the final match of the season Craig White resigned as captain stating: "Now is the appropriate moment to go. I led Yorkshire to promotion last season and we stayed up this year, I am proud of my record and will support to the hilt whoever takes over"^[5]. Yorkshire fans waved goodbye to a legend in the match against Durham, with Darren Lehmann retiring from the county game^[6]. Richard Dawson^[5], Richard Blakey and Mitchell Claydon^[7] have all been released by the club.

England Captain Michael Vaughan has committed the remainder of his county level career to Yorkshire while leaving the contract open enough that he can play for England whenever available^[8]. Yorkshire have signed Younis Khan^[9] for the 2007 season. Unfortunately however, left-hander Michael Lumb has left the club for Hampshire^[10]. Sussex captain Chris Adams had been due to take up the captaincy at Yorkshire^[11], but on the day he met the rest of the team at Yorkshire he pulled a U-turn stating the role was too much for him^[12]. Matthew Elliott was due to join the county temporarily while Younis Khan was on World Cup duty with Pakistan but Khan will now join up earlier than expected due to his country's early elimination from the competition ^[13]. Jacques Rudolph signed for the county on the Kolpak Ruling under a three year deal on 23rd January 2007^[14]. On 28th February Darren Gough was announced as captain for the 2007 season, rejoining the county after a his three year stint at Essex^[15]. Following this appointment, a long running dispute with batsman Anthony McGrath was resolved^[16].

[edit] Players

[edit] For the honour of the County

Dickie Bird at Headingley

Yorkshiremen are regarded as fanatical in their support of their native county, and in cricketing matters especially. The famous 'Roses Matches against Lancashire are second only to Anglo-Australian Tests in terms of history, tradition and competitiveness.

Yorkshire CCC was famous for insisting that its players must have been born within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, a rule not dropped until 1992, and Yorkshire's results suffered through the seventies and eighties as other counties raced to sign major overseas stars.

Due to a lack of playing success, this rule was firstly modified to allow those educated within the County to play (a dispensation used by Vaughan) and then abandoned altogether. Sachin Tendulkar was the first player to take advantage of this new freedom and, incidentally, was the first Asian to be selected for Yorkshire, when he played as an overseas player. Other overseas players to have worn the famous white rose cap include Australian middle order batsmen Michael Bevan and Darren Lehmann, Australian paceman Jason Gillespie and West Indian Richie Richardson.

[edit] Ethnic minority players

Yorkshire has a large ethnic minority population and, for many years, the inability of players from the ethnic minority communities to force their way into the 1st team has been a controversial issue. The County authorities regularly insist that they have an equal opportunities policy and that they take vigorous steps to encourage players from all backgrounds. However, it has manifestly not borne fruit and the low number of players (and spectators) from the ethnic minority communities continues to be a source of embarrassment.

It was not until May 2004 that Ajmal Shahzad became the first British-born Asian to play for Yorkshire. In 2006, all-rounder Adil Rashid made his debut against Warwickshire and produced figures of 6/67 with his leg spin in the second innings, helping to reduce Warwickshire to an innings defeat.

[edit] Players with most first-class appearances

[edit] Club captains

For the full list of club captains, see : Category:Yorkshire cricket captains

It is a curious fact that three Yorkshire players Stanley Jackson, Len Hutton and Michael Vaughan have captained England to success in The Ashes yet none of them have been club captain at Yorkshire. Ray Illingworth was playing for Leicestershire CCC when he was captain of England.

From 1883 to 1959 inclusive, Yorkshire always had an amateur club captain. The extent of leadership given by these gentlemen has long been a subject of discussion. Hawke and Sellers are generally held to have been autocratic and decisive, but in fact both relied heavily on sound professional advice. At the other extreme, Wilfred Rhodes is supposed to have been the de facto captain from 1920 to 1930, but it is a fact that Major Arthur Lupton took the diplomatic lead when a row erupted between Yorkshire and Middlesex during his tenure.

Lord Hawke famously said, at the Yorkshire Annual General Meeting in 1925: "Pray God, no professional shall ever captain England. I love and admire them all, but we have always had an amateur skipper^[17] and when the day comes when we shall have no more amateurs captaining England it will be a thousand pities."^[18] In view of this, it is perhaps surprising that, when Arthur Lupton retired at the end of the 1927 season, Hawke was one of the sponsors of the suggestion that Herbert Sutcliffe should turn amateur and become the Yorkshire captain. In the event, there was sufficient opposition to the idea amongst the Yorkshire committee and players (some of the latter felt that Wilfred Rhodes, as senior professional, had a prior claim), that the proposal was dropped.^[19]

[edit] Yorkshire facts and feats

Highest Yorkshire Totals

887 v Warwickshire Edgbaston, Birmingham 1896

704 v Surrey Kennington Oval 1899

681-5 d v Sussex Bramall Lane, Sheffield 1897

677-7 d v Durham Headingley, Leeds 2006

673-8 d v Northamptonshire Headingley, Leeds 2003

662 v Derbyshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield 1898

660 v Leicestershire Grace Road, Leicester 1896

600-4 d v Worcestershire North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough 1995

Lowest Totals for Yorkshire

23 v Hampshire Acklam Park, Middlesbrough 1965

26 v Surrey Kennington Oval 1909

30 v Kent Bramall Lane, Sheffield 1865

31 v Essex Fartown, Huddersfield 1935

32 v Nottinghamshire Bramall Lane, Sheffield 1876

33 v Lancashire Headingley, Leeds 1924

Lowest Totals against Yorkshire

13 Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham 1901

15 Northamptonshire County Ground, Northampton 1908

20 Sussex The Circle, Hull 1922

20 Derbyshire Bramall Lane, Sheffield 1939

23 Australians Headingley, Leeds 1902

23 Derbyshire The Circle, Hull 1921

Tied Matches

Yorkshire v Leicestershire Fartown, Huddersfield 1954

Yorkshire v Middlesex Park Avenue Cricket Ground, Bradford 1973

Largest Margin of Innings Victory

Inns & 397 runs v Northamptonshire St George's Road, Harrogate 1921

Inns & 387 runs v Derbyshire Queen's Park, Chesterfield 1898

Inns & 343 runs v Northamptonshire Headingley, Leeds 2003

Inns & 321 runs v Leicestershire Aylestone Road, Leicester 1908

Inns & 314 runs v Northamptonshire County Ground, Northampton 1908

Inns & 313 runs v Essex County Ground, Leyton 1932

Inns & 307 runs v Sussex Bramall Lane, Sheffield 1897

Narrowest Margin of Runs Victory

1 run v Middlesex Park Avenue Cricket Ground, Bradford 1976

2 runs v Nottinghamshire Trent Bridge, Nottingham 1870

2 runs v Middlesex Headingley, Leeds 1985

3 runs v Essex Castle Park, Colchester 1991

4 runs v Glamorgan Cardiff Arms Park 1957

Victory After Following On

7 runs v Gloucestershire Bramall Lane, Sheffield 1879

15 runs v Surrey Kennington Oval 1890

40 runs v Sussex Bramall Lane, Sheffield 1892

50 runs v Somerset Bramall Lane, Sheffield 1951

66 runs v Rest of England Kennington Oval 1959

[edit] 2007 squad

The Yorkshire squad for the 2007 season consists of (this section could change as players are released or signed):

Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No	Name	Batting Style	Bowling Style	Notes
Batsmen
26	Andrew Gale	LHB	LS
75	Younis Khan	RHB	LS
10	Anthony McGrath	RHB	RM	Has now agreed to stay but has a break clause at the end of the 2007 season^[20]
22	Joe Sayers	LHB	OS
7	Michael Vaughan	RHB	OS
19	Matthew Wood	RHB	OS
24	Jacques Rudolph	LHB	LBG	Kolpak player
9	Adam Lyth	LHB	RM
All-rounders
27	Richard Pyrah	RHB	RM
13	Craig White	RHB	RF
Wicket-keepers
20	Gerard Brophy	RHB
23	Simon Guy	RHB
6	Greg Wood	RHB
Bowlers
16	Tim Bresnan	LHB	RMF
44	Jason Gillespie	RHB	RF
8	Darren Gough (c)	RHB	RFM
14	Matthew Hoggard	RHB	RFM
5	Deon Kruis	RHB	RFM	Kolpak player
2	Mark Lawson	RHB	LS
17	Steven Patterson	RHB	RMF
3	Adil Rashid	RHB	LS
4	Ajmal Shahzad	RHB	RMF
25	Nick Thornicroft	LHB	RFM