Yorkshire County Cricket Club: A Short History. Revised in March 2009 By DEREK HODGSON

THE CLUB

1863

The Yorkshire County Cricket Club was founded on January 8 at the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield. The first official county match was played at The Oval on June 5 and 6 against Surrey, ending in a draw.

Michael Ellison was the first President, and kept the Club alive thorough his generosity. The first captain was Roger Iddison.

1865

A players' strike: 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 again for Yorkshire.

1867

Yorkshire won all of their seven matches and their first, unofficial, County Championship.

1883

Lord Hawke was appointed Captain. He brought much-needed authority and discipline to the side. Lord Hawke was one of the great influences on the development of the cricket. He was captain for 28 years, later becoming Yorkshire President and President of MCC.

1891

Yorkshire played their first game at Headingley, now the County headquarters and one of the major Test grounds in England.

1893

A major reorganization of the Club. Sheffield's hegemony shifted to Leeds.

1896

Yorkshire amassed the highest score in county cricket - 887 against Warwickshire at Birmingham.

1900-1902

Yorkshire lost only two Championship matches of 80 played.

1908

Yorkshire went through the season unbeaten.
They bowled Northamptonshire out for the lowest aggregate score in English cricket of 42 (27 and 15).

1910

Lord Hawke resigned as Captain.

1919

Yorkshire won the first post-war Championship with debuts from Herbert Sutcliffe, Norman Kilner, Abe Waddington and Emmott Robinson.

1930

Rhodes retired in his 53rd year. He took 73 wickets and scored 478 runs in his final season.
JM Kiburn wrote in the Yorkshire Post: "He had bowled at Grace, and he bowled at Bradman. At 20, at 30, at 40 and at 50 he had shown himself master of his world, and his kingdom was never usurped."

1932

Holmes and Sutcliffe put on a record opening stand of 555 against Essex at Leyton.

1938

Len Hutton recorded the highest individual score for England - 364 against Australia at The Oval. He was only 22.

1946

Yorkshire won the first post-war Championship with debuts for Alec Coxon, Vic Wilson, Ted Lester, Gerald Smithson and Johnny wardle.

1951

Bob Appleyard became the first bowler to take 200 wickets in his first full season.

1958

Yorkshire sacked Johnny Wardle, then the world's best bowler of his type, because of "his general behaviour". Ronnie Burnet, the Second X1 captain, who was then 39, was elected first-team captain and won the Championship in 1959.

1963

Brian Close was made Captain, and won the Championship in his first
season.

1970

Brian Close, skipper through the highly successful 1960s, was sacked as Captain. There were the first signs of the long-running unrest in the Club.

1973

Bramall Lane, Yorkshire's first County ground, was closed.

1982

Ray Illingworth, as team manager, replaced Chris Old, the Captain, at the age of 50.

1983

Yorkshire finished bottom of the 17-strong County Championship for the first time - but won the John Player later National) League) for the first time.
Geoffrey Boycott, one of Yorkshire's most successful 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.

1984-1985

Team Manager Ray Illingworth was removed from his post, and Boycott was made Vice-Captain.

1987

Yorkshire, under new Captain Phil Carrick, led the Championship table in mid-summer, and won the Benson and Hedges Cup.

1989

Carrick resigned with a letter to the Committee urging the recruitment of an overseas professional.

1997

Play for the first team was limited to Scarborough and Headingley. A majority of members supported a plan to build a new ground near Wakefield.

2001

Yorkshire won their first Championship since 1968. Captain David Byas retired - then joined Lancashire for one season.

2002

Yorkshire relegated from Division 1 of the County Championship, but won the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.
Financial crisis forced extraordinary general meeting, at which General Committee was replaced by a Board of Management.

2005

Led by Craig White, the Club regained promotion to Division I of the County Championship.
In December Yorkshire completed the purchase of Headingley Cricket Ground from Leeds CF&A, thus owning their own premises for the first time in 142 years.
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.

2006

Geoffrey Boycott joined the Board of Directors. Darren Lehmann retired after seven seasons as the Club's overseas player, and was elected an Honorary Life Member.

2007

Martyn Moxon, returning from Durham, succeeded David Byas as Director of Cricket. Darren Gough, after three seasons with Essex, became county captain.

2009

Yorkshire completed ownership of the Headingley complex, and began work on the Carnegie Pavilion on the site of the Winter Shed.

HONOURS

Championships

1867, 1869 (equal) 1870, 1893,1896, 1898, 1901, 1902, 1905, 1908, 1912, 1919, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1946, 1949(Equal), 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 2001.

Yorkshire's 33 County Championships have come mostly during four decades:

THE 1900s

Yorkshire won the title four times. The side, led by Hawke, included great players such as George Hirst, David Denton - who scored 2,000 runs in a season four times - and Wilfred Rhodes - who took 3,598 wickets for the County.
Yorkshire were also Championship runners-up four times - in 1904, 1906, 1907 and 1909, and they were third in 1903.

THE 1920s

The Championship was won four times during this decade also. The great players in this side were the openers - Herbert Sutcliffe and Percy Holmes, who still hold the record for the highest opening stand of 555 against Essex.
Left-arm spinner Wilfred Rhodes was still playing, as was George Macaulay, who took 100 Championship wickets in a season 10 times.

THE 1930s

Many of the side from the 1920s helped Yorkshire to their most successful era, in which they were Champions seven times - missing out only in: 1930(3rd) 1934(5th) and 1936(3rd).
Along with Sutcliffe and Rhodes from the 1920s, other players were dominant during the 1930s: Hedley Verity, another great left-arm spinner; Bill Bowes, an international opening bowler, and Len Hutton, one of the greatest batsmen ever to play cricket.

THE 1960s

Yorkshire won the Championship six times - twice under the leadership of Vic Wilson and four (from 1963) under Brian Close. That team included England fast bowler Fred Trueman, who took 307 Test wickets; all-rounder Ray Illingworth, who captained England in 31 Test, and opening batsmen Geoff Boycott.

LIMITED-OVERS COMPETITIONS

Benson & Hedges Cup (55 overs) 1987.

Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy (formerly Gillette Cup and NatWest Trophy) 1965, 1969 and 2002.

National League: (formely John Player League and Refuge Assurance League) 1983.

PLAYERS

TOM EMMETT 1866-1888

A very skilful left-arm fast bowler, who was able to vary his attack very well. Some players thought he bowled wide deliberately
to lull them into a false sense of security before getting them with an unplayable delivery. He took 1,216 wickets at an average of 12.71 in his 299 matches for Yorkshire.

LORD HAWKE 1881-1911

One of the few early players born outside Yorkshire to play for the County.
Martin Bladen Hawke nevertheless regarded himself as a Yorkshireman. He was extremely influential in all aspects of Yorkshire's operation - introducing winter pay, bringing discipline to the side and creating the White Rose symbol that is Yorkshire's emblem.
Lord Hawke was Captain for 28 years and President for 40. He played five Tests, and was Captain for four of them. His highest score was 166 in 1896, but he will be best remembered for his influence on the administration of cricket.

GEORGE HERBERT HIRST 1891-1929

He began his County career as a No. 10 batsmen, playing only as a bowler, but became the record-holder for the highest individual score for Yorkshire - 341 at Leicester in 1905.
A left-arm bowler with the ability to swing the ball prodigiously when it was new, Hirst took 2,481 wickets in 717 matches for Yorkshire. He took 100 wickets and scored 1,000 runs in a season 14 times - and compiled 32,024 runs with a career batting average of 34.73.

WILFRED RHODES 1898-1930

A player who began his career as a left-arm spinner, made himself into an excellent opening batsman - and then, towards the end of his career, became mainly a bowler again.
He did the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season 16 times, and he is still the oldest player to have appeared in a Test - against the West Indies, aged 52 years and 165 days.
In 883 matches for Yorkshire he scored 31,098 runs at 30.04, and took 3,597 wickets at 16.02 runs each. He played in 58 Tests, scoring 2,325 runs and taking 127 wickets.
Until the advent of Sir Garfield Sobers, he was generally acknowledged as the greatest all-rounder in history.

HERBERT SUTCLIFFE 1919-1945

A batsman with an excellent temperament, Herbert Sutcliffe averaged 60.73 in his 54 Tests for England. His attitude and concentration made him a very reliable batsman who could adapt his approach to any situation.
He scored 18,558 runs for Yorkshire in 602 matches, and averaged 50.2.

MAURICE LEYLAND 1920-1946

A left-hand top-order batsman who was also a brilliant fielder.
Leyland holds the record for England's highest second-wicket stand with Len Hutton - 382 at The Oval in 1938.
Averaging 19.16 and 13.75 in his first two full seasons, he did not have a happy introduction to County cricket, but eventually his class came through. He averaged 41.03 in 548 matches for Yorkshire, scoring 26,180 runs.
He was a useful left-arm spinner, taking 409 wickets at 27.08.

HEDLEY VERITY 1930-1939

A slow left-arm bowler, who was unplayable when the conditions gave him any assistance.
Verity died in action in Sicily in 1943, and his last match was testimony to the loss his death meant to cricket: he took 7-9 in six overs as Sussex were bowled out for 33.
He played 278 matches for Yorkshire, taking 1,558 wickets at an average of 13.7, and in his 40 Tests he took 144 wickets at 24.37.

SIR LEONARD HUTTON 1934-1955

One of the best batsmen ever to play Test cricket. Len Hutton holds the record for the highest individual score made for England in a Test - 364 against Australia at The Oval in 1938.
In 341 matches for Yorkshire he scored 24,807 runs at an average of 53.34, and took 154 wickets at 27.40.

FRED TRUEMAN 1949-1968

A true match-winning fast bowler.
He combined genuine pace with brilliant accuracy and an ability to generate late movement away from the right-hander. The first player to take 300 Test wickets, he finished with 307 at an average of 21.57.
In 459 matches for Yorkshire Trueman took 1,745 wickets at 17.12.

GEOFFREY BOYCOTT 1962-1986

A world-class batsman, who scored 8,114 Test runs.
He became the third Yorkshireman to complete 100 First Class centuries - and the only player ever to do so in a Test match, versus Australia at Headingley in 1977.
He played 414 matches for the County, scoring 32,570 runs at 57.85.

DARREN GOUGH 1989-2003, 2007-

An ebullient fast-medium, occasionally fast, right-arm bowler. "The Dazzler" was the first Academy graduate to win international fame.
His versatility - mixing a deadly yorker with fast off-cutters and, when applicable, reverse swing - made him a feared opponent even in Australia. "The pulse of the England team" is how one selector described him.
Three operations on his right knee clouded his later career, but his popularity, especially with the young, never faded. He left to play for Essex in 2004, but returned to the Club as the county captain in 2007.

MICHAEL VAUGHAN 1993-

Yorkshire's tradition of playing only those born within the county was suspended to accomodate him.
Michael was born in Salford, and is related through his mother to great Lancashire and England batsman Johnny Tyldesley. The family moved to Sheffield, from where he graduated to the Academy.
An elegant, free-scoring right-hand batsman, Michael was ranked world No. 1 in the spring of 2003 after scoring seven Test centuries, including three against Australia, in the previous 12 months.
Appointed England Captain in May 2003.

MATTHEW HOGGARD 1996-

An outstanding right-arm swing bowler of considerable patience and resource and a stubborn tail-end batsman, he was one of the principal members of the England team that regained the Ashes in 2005. He was especially valuable to England abroad when conditions favoured swing bowling, performing well in South Africa and India.
In March 2006 he was ranked fourth in the world.

OVERSEAS PLAYERS

Unlike all other counties, Yorkshire resisted importing professionals from overseas until 1992 when - after 24 years of failing to win the Championship - members reluctantly supported the Committee in seeking reinforcement from outside Yorkshire.

Craig McDermott, then the leading Australian fast bowler, was to have been the first, but he withdrew through injury.
Sachin Tendulkar, then 19 and soon to become the world's leading batsman, replaced McDermott. West Indies captain Richie Richardson had two poor seasons in the role, but he did play
a prominent part in the development of Darren Gough.
Yorkshire have had a sucession of Australians including Michael Bevan, Darren Lehmann, Simon Katich and Matthew Elliott, and recruited the eminent New Zealand captain, Stephen Fleming, in 2004.
Lehmann has had a magnificent career with Yorkshire - becoming the first overseas player to captain the county, in 2002. He was so successful a player that he reclaimed his place in Australia's Test squad.

GROUNDS

HEADINGLEY, Leeds

First game 1891 and the County Headquarters since 1893.
Headingley has played host to Test matches since 1899.

BRAMALL LANE, Sheffield

First game 1863. Last game 1973.
Yorkshire's first home ground when the Club was founded in 1863 and a prominent venue until 1973, when it became the site for a new stand built by neighbouring Sheffield United FC.
Bramall Lane hosted a Test match in 1902.

PARK AVENUE, Bradford

First game 1881.
The first home of Yorkshire Academy of Cricket. It was one of the County's main grounds until in 1985 the pavilion was declared unsafe and had to be demolished. It was, however, given a First Class match in 1992.
Park Avenue was the favourite ground of many players, including Sir Leonard Hutton.

HARROGATE

First game 1894.
A favoured ground. Four Championships have been won there.

SCARBOROUGH

First game 1878.
Along with Harrogate, this is extremely popular as a festival ground. Each hosted a cricket festival every season - Harrogate early in the season, Scarborough towards the end.

Yorkshire also have played matches at Abbeydale, Darnall and Hyde Park all Sheffield), Holbeck and Hunslet (Leeds), Wakefield, Dewsbury, York, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Barnsley and Middlesbrough.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

Declining income is a problem throughout the game, not just in Yorkshire. The business and marketing side is now almost as important as the playing.
Clubs could not survive without the revenue from advertising and sponsorship and the grant from the England and Wales Board.
Yorkshire have supported moves to extend the interest in cricket.

YOUTH CRICKET

There is a wider choice in sport and leisure opportunities than in the days of Lord Hawke.
With the advent of summer rugby, with football overlapping summer, computer games, satellite TV and newer school sports such as badminton, squash, golf, athletics and swimming all competing for spare time, cricket is not the automatic choice.
Yorkshire Cricket Centre at Headingley is generally fully utilized for evening practices in addition to young people attending cricket courses.

Schools. Many state schools now cannot afford or find the staff for cricket. Yorkshire Schools Cricket Association runs sides from Under-11 up to Under-15 - which are generally regarded as some of the best school sides in the country.

Lord's Taverners. In association with the Taverners the County started initiatives in 1992 to develop interest among the under-13 age group by running coaching courses in the schools.
By using some of the players during the close season, it is hoped that an early introduction will stimulate children all over the County to take up the game.

Clubs. With fewer and fewer schools now playing cricket, the onus is now more on the Clubs to develop young players, and most clubs in Yorkshire now run teams from Under 12-13 to Under 17-18 level.
It is to the clubs' advantage to get more young people interested in playing as their own sides are likely to get better. Yorkshire Cricket Association runs Under-16 and Under-19 teams in inter-county competitions, and Yorkshire are usually among the leaders.

The Academy. Yorkshire Cricket Academy was opened in 1988 at Park Avenue ground, Bradford, before moving to the Cricket Centre at Headingley.
It gathered Yorkshire's best young players together during the season to train and play matches as a team. It regularly provides players for 2nd XI games, and some such as Darren Gough and Michael Vaughan graduate to full County contracts and international representative games.