“Get promotion”. This was Colin Graves’ first response when asked what target he had set for the Yorkshire squad for the summer.
As is well documented, it was a miserable time off the field at Headingley. The club is expected to post a loss of around £3 million last year; this is a staggering sum considering the ground has hosted a lucrative Ashes Test.
The money went towards payouts for sacked staff, legal fees, consultants’ bills for which the club was desperate for a buyer and passed the hat back to Graves, and inflated wages, which was one of the reasons for Darren Gough’s recent departure as director of cricket. before the season starts. Gough reportedly earns much more than the normal amount for his role, compared to his colleagues in other counties.
Graves, who has returned as chairman and worked on many of the club’s issues, said he would be in no rush to find a replacement, telling Telegraph Sport that if Yorkshire were confirmed the job could wait until September, when it could also be combined with the management of the women’s cricket league. As one of the new eight ‘first-tier’ sides to be created by the ECB. Chief executive Stephen Vaughan is self-employed and the job will be filled in the summer as Graves looks to build his own team.
Vaughan, meanwhile, will help fill in some of the director of cricket’s contract-related responsibilities, while it will be up to head coach Ottis Gibson to oversee the playing side and be tasked with steering the team out of the second division of the championship. We are aware that it is time to deliver good news to the field. Gibson’s contract expires in September, and his failure to get promoted will likely cost him his job. Graves isn’t always patient with players and coaches who aren’t successful. When the county was relegated in 2011, he launched a scathing attack on the players, calling them a “disgrace”. This was followed by a change in the coaching staff.
Last year the club finished last outside number one in the second division, their lowest ranking since 1983, after avoiding the wooden spoon with victory in the final game of the season against Worcestershire. The main reason for this was the 48-point deduction due to historical racism cases; Throw in injuries, some bad weather and a club in a dark place and it made for a forgettable season. But insiders say there is a renewed spirit at Headingley heading into his first game against Leicestershire and there is real optimism about success, as if the club is on the verge of a new beginning. In the end it was a clean slate.
This summer should be different because Yorkshire are too strong for the second division. In fact, if they were in the upper class, they would compete for the championship. Having four-day captain Shan Masood available for almost the entire season will ensure the club’s continuity and a steady flow of runs in the 3rd position. With no Test cricket until July, Yorkshire will have Joe Root available for five of the first nine matches. But if he starts well, we expect him to play more. Root has not played for Yorkshire since May 2022.
Harry Brook will also start the summer by playing five matches; He will be playing his first cricket match since September and first championship game since July 2022 after withdrawing from the IPL following the death of his grandmother. He will leave in May and join England in their white-ball series against Pakistan to prepare for the Twenty20 World Cup in June, but could play a decisive role at the start of the season.
Dawid Malan could step back and add more experience to the top six by playing only white-ball cricket, but Yorkshire will be waiting for one of their young players like James Wharton and George Hill to step up. Finley Bean and Adam Lyth form a strong opening partnership and it will be interesting to see how they use Dom Bess, who spent the winter in Zimbabwe playing first-class cricket, primarily as a top-four batsman. Left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty joins from Surrey after a loan spell at Yorkshire last summer and will start as first choice.
The seam bowling is strong and after an injury-plagued campaign in 2023, they are all available in the early summer. Matthew Fisher is in England’s plans and has been given one of three incremental central contracts so they can monitor his workload. Fisher has recovered from a shoulder injury and Matt Milnes is also fit again after making just two appearances last summer. Ben Coad, 30, is an experienced campaigner and prolific wicket-taker with over 200 wickets (average of 20) in county cricket. That would be enough for the second division, especially as no major county was relegated to challenge Yorkshire last year.
Financially, the club faces another difficult summer. Headingley will not be on the Test match route until 2025 but this gives Graves the chance to cut costs immediately and start over. There will be some layoffs and efficiency savings at a club that was wasting money it didn’t have to begin with.
“We have a young team but hopefully we will have players from England for a while and that will cheer everything and everyone up,” says Graves. “Our aim is to get back to the first league, to play well and defend ourselves again. We don’t have the money to go around buying players, but we already have the talent. Membership is going well. Our numbers have reached around 6,000 and things are looking positive.”
It’s been a long time since we said that at Headingley.