Yorkshire County Cricket Club is a professional
Cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
club based in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The team competes in the
County Championship
The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
, the top tier of English
First-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
. Nicknamed "Vikings". Yorkshire also competes in
T20 Blast
The T20 Blast, officially known as the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. T20 Blast is t ...
,
One-Day Cup. Yorkshire's first team is the most successful in English cricketing history with 33 County Championship titles, including one shared. The team's most recent Championship title was in 2015.
The clubs limited overs team was originally branded Yorkshire Carnigie. From the 2013 season they were called the Yorkshire Vikings. For the 2025 season all of the clubs mens and women's teams will return to competing under the single Yorkshire name (With an added ‘’Rose’’) .
The clubs traditional colours are Cambridge blue, Oxford blue, and Old Gold.
Yorkshire teams formed by earlier organisations, essentially the old
Sheffield Cricket Club
The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a key role in the development of cricket in northern England. It was the direct forerunner of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and some of the teams fielded by Sheffi ...
, played top-class cricket from the 18th century and the county club has always held first-class status. Yorkshire have competed in the County Championship since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The team play most of their home games at
Headingley Cricket Ground
Headingley Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in the Headingley Stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, England. It adjoins the Headingley Rugby Stadium through a shared main stand, although the main entrance to the cricket ground is at the opp ...
in
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
. Another significant venue is at
North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough
North Marine Road Ground, formerly known as Queen's, is a cricket ground in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Scarborough Cricket Club which hosts the Scarborough Festival and the Yorkshire County Cricket Club plays a se ...
, which houses the annual
Scarborough Festival
{{No footnotes, date=July 2011
The Scarborough Festival is an end of season series of cricket matches featuring Yorkshire County Cricket Club which has been held in Scarborough, on the east coast of Yorkshire, since 1876. The ground, at North Ma ...
. Yorkshire have used other grounds in the past including
The Fartown Ground,
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
;
Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United.
The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...
,
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
, which was the club's original home;
Horton Park Avenue,
Bradford
Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
;
St George's Road Cricket Ground, Harrogate
St George's Road Cricket Ground in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, that hosted 98 first class matches between 1882 and 2000.
It hosted a woman's Test match starting on 1 August 1998 between England women and Australia women. It had a ...
;
The Circle, Kingston upon Hull
The Circle was a cricket ground on Anlaby Road in Kingston upon Hull, which hosted 89 first-class matches from 1899 to 1974. Two other matches were rained off without a ball being bowled. Most of the matches were County Championship games fe ...
; and
Acklam Park
Acklam Park is a rugby union and cricket ground located in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Initially opened in 1929, the venue has hosted games of Middlesbrough RUFC since the ground's opening in 1929, as well as Middlesbrough Cricket C ...
,
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
.
Earliest cricket in Yorkshire
The earliest certain reference to cricket in Yorkshire dates from 1751 when local matches were held in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
and a game took place on or soon after Monday, 5 August at Stanwick, near
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
, between the
Duke of Cleveland
Duke of Cleveland was a title that was created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The dukedoms were named after Cleveland in northern England.
The first creation in 1670 (along with the baro ...
's XI and
Earl of Northumberland
The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...
's XI; the same teams earlier played a game at
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England
**County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States
Durham may also refer to:
Places
...
.
["At the Sign of the Wicket"](_blank)
, F. S. Ashley-Cooper, ''Cricket'', issue 535, 26 April 1900, p. 83.
Sheffield Cricket Club
The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a key role in the development of cricket in northern England. It was the direct forerunner of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and some of the teams fielded by Sheffi ...
was probably formed about this time and there are references to Sheffield matches in
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
in 1757 and home and away matches against
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
in 1765. A club was formed in Leeds in 1760 and in
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
in 1784.
Bedale
Bedale ( ), is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Bedale Beck is a tributary of the River Swale, which forms one of the Yorkshire Dales. The dale has a predominant agriculture sector and its related small traditional t ...
in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
was a noted centre in the early 19th century. But cricket in most rural areas was slow to develop. Yorkshire cricket became centred around Sheffield, where it was more organised than in the rest of the county.
From 1771, Sheffield played semi-regular matches against
Nottingham Cricket Club
Nottingham Cricket Club was an English cricket club which played in Nottingham during the 18th and 19th centuries. Matches have been recorded between 1771 and 1848 and the team played in 15 first-class matches between 1826 and 1848.
The earlie ...
.
Nottingham was generally the better side and Sheffield sometimes played with more players to give them a greater chance of victory. Nevertheless, the Sheffield player
Tom Marsden
Thomas Marsden (12 September 1803 – 27 February 1843) was an English cricketer whose career spanned the 1826 to 1841 seasons.
Born in Sheffield, Marsden was an all-rounder who batted left-handed and bowled either left-arm fast (underarm) or sl ...
was regarded as one of the leading players in the country in the 1820s.
Cricket increased in popularity after one of the 1827
roundarm trial matches was played at the purpose-built
Darnall New Ground
Darnall New Ground at High Hazels Park, Darnall, Sheffield was a first-class cricket venue in the 1820s. It was the home ground of Sheffield Cricket Club
The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a ...
in Sheffield to evaluate the new style of
roundarm bowling
In cricket, roundarm bowling is a bowling (cricket), bowling style that was introduced in the first quarter of the 19th century and largely superseded underarm bowling by the 1830s. Using a roundarm action, the bowler (cricket), bowlers extend th ...
. After this match, many new cricket clubs were formed in the county.
In 1833, "Yorkshire" was first used as the name of the team, although it contained eleven Sheffield players, for a game against
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
at the
Hyde Park Ground in Sheffield. The name may have arisen from a need to match the status of Norfolk as a county rather than a city. There were some differences in the organisation of the Yorkshire team ''vis-à-vis'' those called Sheffield as it included three
amateurs
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist.
History
H ...
while Sheffield teams were entirely professional. Yorkshire, as such, played intermittently over the next thirty years but was not organised in any formal way. Among their opponents were
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
in 1835;
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in 1844 and 1845; and
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
in 1849. Also in 1849, Yorkshire played against a "Lancashire" team for the first time, though it was really a Sheffield v Manchester match. By 1855, Sheffield and Yorkshire were playing at
Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United.
The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...
.
Club history
Origin
On 7 March 1861, during a meeting at the
Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield, a Match Fund Committee was established to run Yorkshire county matches. The committee was made up from the management committee of the Bramall Lane ground and representatives from clubs willing to pay
£1
The British one pound (£1) coin is a denomination of Coins of the United Kingdom, sterling coinage. Its obverse has featured the profile of Charles III since 2024 and bears the Latin engraving CHARLES III D G REX () F D (), which means 'Charle ...
to the fund. But the committee was unable to persuade other clubs that it was not seeking to promote Sheffield cricket and a lack of funds prevented some matches being played in 1862.
By this time, there were several cricketers with good reputations and the county team was one of the strongest in England. Consequently, on 8 January 1863, Yorkshire County Cricket Club was formed. Membership was unlimited and cost a minimum of
10s and
6d. Like most first-class cricket clubs of the time, Yorkshire relied on private patronage with administrators "paying to serve" and "moneyed enthusiasts" acting as ready match sponsors. The majority of players were freelance professionals who were paid a usual match fee of £5, from which all travel and accommodation had to be paid. Travel could be arduous, living away from home could be "rough" and sometimes the match fee was not enough to cover expenses, especially if, as was often a problem with early Yorkshire cricketers, "the ale-house was a temptation".
The first club President was former player
Thomas Barker, who had become
Mayor of Sheffield
The Lord Mayor of Sheffield is a ceremonial post held by a member of Sheffield City Council. They are elected annually by the council. The post originated in 1843, with the appointment of William Jeffcock as the first Mayor of Sheffield. E ...
, although he probably never attended any meetings.
Michael Ellison
Michael Joseph Ellison (1 June 1817 – 12 July 1898) was an English first-class cricketer active 1846–55 who played for Sheffield and Nottinghamshire. He became a key figure in the foundation and development of Yorkshire County Cricket Club ...
was the first club Treasurer and at some point early in Yorkshire's history, he assumed the
Presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
. Most official accounts record Ellison as Yorkshire's first President.
Joseph ("J. B.") Wostinholm became the first of four long-serving club Secretaries in 1864. The first team
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
was
Roger Iddison
Roger Iddison (15 September 1834 – 19 March 1890) was an English cricketer, and the original Captain (cricket), captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. He made seventy two first-class appearances for Yorkshire between 1855 and 1876, scor ...
, a professional cricketer.
The objective of the club was to play matches "either in Sheffield or in any other towns of the county according as arrangements may be made". Other locations in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
were unable or unwilling to host fixtures in the first years of the club, and Bradford and York continued to attempt to organise games in competition with Yorkshire, sometimes causing confusion among other counties. Attempts to form an alternative Yorkshire team continued intermittently until 1884 although, by 1873, most clubs had accepted the authority of the Sheffield-based county club.
1863–1882

Yorkshire played their inaugural
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
match against
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
at
The Oval
The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...
on 4, 5 and 6 June 1863. Surrey scored 315 runs, to which Yorkshire replied with 257. Surrey were bowled out for 60 before the match was drawn. The team recorded their first win in the following match against the strong
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
team and although they lost the return match, won two and lost only one of the four matches played in their first season. In 1864, the team won two and lost four of seven matches.
In 1865, the club and players became involved in a dispute. Five players – Roger Iddison,
George Anderson,
George Atkinson,
Joseph Rowbotham and
Ned Stephenson – refused to play against Surrey. This concerned a controversy that arose in 1862 when Iddison and Anderson played for an All-England team against Surrey at The Oval and the Kent bowler
Edgar Willsher
Edgar "Ned" Willsher (22 November 1828 – 7 October 1885) was an English cricketer known for being a catalyst in the shift from roundarm to overarm bowling. A left-handed bowler, and useful lower-order batsman, Willsher played first-class cri ...
was repeatedly no-balled for using an overarm action by an
umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...
whom, they claimed, had been appointed by Surrey specifically for that purpose. Anderson stated in 1865 that he "would not play against those who have combined to sweep us from the cricket field altogether if they could".
The dispute was about a point of principle and centred on the right of bowlers to use an overarm action, which had been legalised ahead of the 1864 season. Consequently, with several important players missing, Yorkshire did not win a game in 1865 and were forced to cancel some matches for the 1866 season. The Yorkshire Committee and the players came to an understanding in early 1867 after the players apologised, but Anderson never represented the county again.
With the player dispute resolved, Yorkshire won all seven of their matches in 1867, defeating Surrey,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
and
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
. As a result, the sporting press proclaimed Yorkshire to be the "
Champion County
The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
" for the first time. The following year,
John Thewlis scored the first
century
A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
...
for Yorkshire in first-class cricket, against Surrey at The Oval; in 1869, Joseph Rowbotham became the first man to score two centuries in a season for Yorkshire. Yorkshire won four games in both 1868 and 1869; one sports publication regarded Yorkshire as equal champions in the latter year. The team won six out of seven in 1870 to be acclaimed as Champion County again. Much of Yorkshire's success in these years came from the bowling combination of
George Freeman and
Tom Emmett
Thomas Emmett (3 September 1841 – 29 June 1904) was an English cricket bowler in the late 1860s, the 1870s and the early 1880s.
Cricket career
Born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, Emmett first joined Yorkshire when almost 25 as a p ...
.
Following Freeman's retirement from regular
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
after 1870, Yorkshire declined, winning fewer games in 1871 and 1872 as
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
rose to a position of dominance in County Cricket, driven by the success of
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...
and his brothers. Conscious of the need to strengthen the club, Yorkshire instituted a Colts team of young players, but replaced Iddison as captain at the end of the 1872 season. Rowbotham, another professional, assumed the position. For the 1873 season, county cricket moved a step closer towards an organised competition when the counties agreed qualification rules for players to be eligible for a team; for many years, this was considered to be start of the
County Championship
The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
. However, the counties did not organise a formal competition and the "Champion County" was still decided by the press; some publications disagreed.

Despite the team containing effective players, Yorkshire did not perform as well as expected over the next seasons. The bowling attack was strong, the team contained some experienced players and critics believed
Ephraim Lockwood
Ephraim Lockwood (4 April 1845 – 19 December 1921) was an English first-class cricketer, and captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club in the 1876 and 1877 seasons.
Life and career
Lockwood was born at Lascelles Hall, Huddersfield, Yorkshi ...
to be the best professional batsman in the country. In 1873, Yorkshire won seven games and lost five and for the following season,
Luke Greenwood replaced Rowbotham as captain. The team had an improved record, but although second only to Gloucestershire, Yorkshire lost heavily in both encounters between the teams. Greenwood retired, Rowbotham resumed the captaincy for 1875, and Lockwood took over in 1876. The team did not perform particularly well in either season, but their worst performance came in 1877, winning two games – but none of the last ten – and losing seven. This placed them eighth out of nine counties.
Tom Emmett then took over as captain, but the following two seasons brought mixed results as the team displayed inconsistency, often losing to teams they should comfortably have beaten. Derek Hodgson, in his official county history, suggests a lack of discipline in the team throughout these years was to blame; contemporary reports suggested the team drank too much alcohol to be effective. The players also suffered from public attention, receiving generous hospitality at times which impacted on their performances. In these seasons, the team often began well only to lose form later in the season and the Yorkshire committee was reluctant to replace the experienced cricketers with younger players. However, off the field, Yorkshire became increasingly successful, and the profits made by the club paid for improvements to be made to the Bramall Lane Ground and increased player wages through the introduction of travelling expenses and talent money where good performances were financially rewarded. An influx of what proved to be effective new players saw Yorkshire finish second to Lancashire in the unofficial Championship for 1881, but more significant was the debut for the county of
Lord Hawke
Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near ...
, then aged 21.
The team faded again in 1882 and Hawke, who had refused the captaincy earlier, was appointed team captain at the end of the season, the first amateur to hold this position. Previous captains had all been professionals: Roger Iddison (1863–1872), Joseph Rowbotham (1873 and 1875), Luke Greenwood (1874), Ephraim Lockwood (1876–1877) and Tom Emmett (1878–1882). Hawke remained in charge for 28 seasons until 1910, during which time the team won eight County Championships.
1883–1918

In an obituary tribute, the editor of ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...
'' said that Lord Hawke's "strength of character was tested" when, as a young man on leaving
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, he undertook the responsibility of captaining the Yorkshire side, composed at that time of "elements that were not entirely harmonious". Owing to Hawke's "tact, judgment and integrity", he moulded the Eleven into "the best and probably the most united county cricket team in England".
Yorkshire to 1883 was widely seen as an idiosyncratic team and, though Hawke's primary task as captain was to lead the team to fulfilment of its potential, his biggest challenge was to unite the club's geographical and social factions. At the end of the 1882 season, in addition to appointing Hawke as captain, the committee agreed to reorganise itself for the first time since the club's foundation and began a process which eventually made the club representative of the whole county and not just Sheffield.
Hawke succeeded Emmett in 1883 and remained as official captain for 27 years, but at first he was careful to take his time and did not make too many changes. Yorkshire improved in 1883 and finished second behind Nottinghamshire in the unofficial County Championship. However, the remainder of the 1880s was disappointing for the team and its supporters. Kilburn said that Yorkshire "continued to be an unreliable side, mingling brilliant achievement with miserable performance". The basic problem was that the older players were past their peak while younger replacements did not make the progress expected. A poor season on the field in 1889 was reflected by reduced income and changes were made with several good new players being introduced. These included
Jack Brown,
David Hunter
David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...
and
Stanley Jackson Stanley Jackson may refer to:
* Stanley Jackson (cricketer) (1870–1947), English cricketer and politician
* Stanley Jackson (gridiron football) (born 1975), quarterback
* Stan Jackson (quarterback), quarterback for Cal Poly Pomona, set college fo ...
, while
Bobby Peel
Robert Peel (12 February 1857 – 12 August 1941) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective left-handed batsman ...
was becoming increasingly effective as a bowling all-rounder. They were followed by
John Tunnicliffe
John Tunnicliffe (26 August 1866 – 11 July 1948) was an English, first-class cricketer, who played in 472 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
County career
Tunnicliffe was born at Low Town in Pudsey, Yorkshire. He was a t ...
,
David Denton,
Ted Wainwright
Ted Wainwright (8 April 1865 – 28 October 1919) was an English first-class cricketer, who played in 352 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1888 and 1902. An all-rounder, Wainwright helped to establish the county at ...
and
George Hirst
George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...
. Hawke worked on fielding practice and the players became specialised and efficient as fielders.
In 1893, the club's initial reorganisation was completed and was finalised after Ellison died in 1898 and Hawke assumed the club presidency as well as captaincy. When Wostinholm died in 1902 after being club secretary for 38 years, the county offices were moved from Sheffield to the more central location of Leeds.
It was in 1893 that the team finally came good and Yorkshire won their first official County Championship. Hodgson wrote that it was "perhaps ... the first confirmation of Hawke's striving for teamwork and discipline". Yorkshire achieved second and third places in 1894 and 1895. The team continued to develop as Brown and Tunnicliffe established an effective opening partnership backed up by Denton and Jackson while Peel, Wainwright and Hirst carried the bowling attack.
Yorkshire historian R. S. Holmes described Yorkshire as "prodigious" in 1896, when they won their second title with some outstanding batting performances including a championship record total of 887 against
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
. Hawke began the practice of paying the professionals over the winter, initially £2 per week; the scheme was later modified to include bonuses. Peel was sacked in 1897 after appearing drunk on the field and was replaced in 1898 by
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman ...
, who took 141 wickets in his debut season. In the same season, Brown and Tunnicliffe established a record partnership for the first wicket when they scored 554 against
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
at Chesterfield. Yorkshire won their third Championship in 1898 and narrowly failed in 1899 when only a defeat late in the season by
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
prevented the retention of the title.

Between 1900 and 1902, Yorkshire lost only twice in the County Championship, both times to Somerset, and won the County Championship in all three seasons largely thanks to their two outstanding all-rounders Hirst and Rhodes. When Joseph Wolstinholm retired as club secretary after the 1902 season, he was succeeded by
Frederick Toone who held the post until his death in June 1930 and formed a successful liaison with Hawke. Toone and Hawke worked together to improve the terms and conditions of professional players' contracts. To 1914, they were paid £5 for a home match and £6 for an away match with a £1 win bonus. Players who had received their county cap were obliged to join the Cricketers' Friendly Society and were paid a winter wage of £2 a week.
Yorkshire remained a strong championship contender through the 1903 to 1914 seasons and won a further three titles in this period, also finishing as runners-up three times. They won their seventh title in 1905 after being third and second in 1903 and 1904 respectively. In 1906, George Hirst achieved a unique "double-double" by scoring 2,385 runs and taking 208 wickets. The 1906 championship was decided on the last day of the season. Yorkshire lost to Gloucestershire by a single run and were overtaken by Kent, who won their last match against Hampshire by an innings. Having finished third in 1907, Yorkshire went through the 1908 season unbeaten and bowled Northamptonshire out for 27 and 15, the aggregate score of 42 being the lowest in English first-class cricket. Yorkshire finished third in 1909 but then dropped to eighth and seventh in the next two seasons before a recovery in 1912 brought their last title before the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. While Hirst, Rhodes and Denton continued to excel, Yorkshire gained much in the last four years before the war from two new all-rounders,
Major Booth
Major William Booth (10 December 1886 – 1 July 1916) was a cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1908 and 1914, a season in which he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
Note that "Major" was a given na ...
and
Alonzo Drake
Alonzo Robson Drake (16 April 1884 – 14 February 1919) was an English footballer and first-class cricketer.
Born in Rotherham, Drake was a good all-round sportsman but initially focused on his football career. Starting out with Doncaster Rov ...
, both of whom were an outstanding success. Another newcomer was
Arthur Dolphin, who replaced the retired David Hunter as first-choice wicketkeeper. In 1913 and the unfinished 1914 season, Yorkshire finished second and fourth. Lord Hawke played only a few matches in 1909 and formally resigned as captain in 1910. He was succeeded by
Everard Radcliffe, who held the post until the end of the 1911 season; and then by
Sir Archibald White, who led the team until the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.
1919–1945
Yorkshire won the first post-war Championship in 1919, a year which saw the debuts of
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English Professionalism#Sports, professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England as an opening batsman. A ...
and
Emmott Robinson
Emmott Robinson (16 November 1883 – 17 November 1969) was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1919 to 1931. He was awarded his county cap in 1920. Robinson was a right-handed batsman who b ...
, and remained a dominant force in the County Championship until the Second World War. They won every year from 1922 to 1925 and seven more times in the 1930s. The team won 25 games in 1923, for instance, with Rhodes and
Roy Kilner
Roy Kilner (17 October 1890 – 5 April 1928) was an English professional cricketer who played nine Test matches for England between 1924 and 1926. An all-rounder, he played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1911 and 1927. In all first ...
doing the double in these matches alone, while four other batsmen scored 1,000 runs and three other bowlers, including
George Macaulay
George Gibson Macaulay (7 December 1897 – 13 December 1940) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1935. He played in eight Test matches for England from 1923 to ...
, took 100 wickets.
Yorkshire's quintessential rivalry is with
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
via the
Roses Match
The Roses Match refers to any game of cricket played between Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Lancashire County Cricket Club. Yorkshire's emblem is the white rose, while Lancashire's is the red rose. The associations go back to the Wars of the R ...
. The importance of this match reached a peak during the inter-war period when, for many years, Yorkshire and Lancashire were the dominant teams in English cricket. The writings of
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (2 April 188828 February 1975) was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly self-educated, he became ''The Manchester Gua ...
at this time were instrumental in emphasising the sense of rivalry between the two teams.
Wilfred Rhodes retired in 1930, taking 73 wickets and scoring 478 runs in his final season at the age of 53.
J. M. Kilburn wrote in the ''
Yorkshire Post
''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...
'': "He had bowled at
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...
, and he bowled at
Don Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...
. At 20, at 30, at 40 and at 50 he had shown himself master of his world, and his kingdom was never usurped". Rhodes was succeeded by
Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity (18 May 1905 – 31 July 1943) was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England between 1930 and 1939. A Left-arm orthodox spin, slow left-arm orth ...
, another skilful slow left armer. In 1932, Verity performed the greatest bowling feat in first-class cricket – ten wickets for ten runs against Nottinghamshire at Headingley.
Percy Holmes
Percy Holmes (25 November 1886 – 3 September 1971) was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England.
Holmes was born in Oakes, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. An opening batsman and a fine fielder, Holmes was a l ...
and Sutcliffe had a record opening stand of 555 against Essex at Leyton in 1932.
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an Batting order (cricket)#Opening batsmen, opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England national cricket team ...
began his career in the 1930s.
1946–1970
Large crowds flocked to the cricket after the Second World War with 47,000 people attending the 3 days of the Roses Match at Bramall Lane in 1946. Yorkshire won the first post-war Championship. New players after the war included spinner
Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle (8 January 1923 – 23 July 1985) was an English spin bowling cricketer whose Test Match career lasted between 1948 and 1957. His Test bowling average of 20.39 is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler since ...
, all-rounder
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close, (24 February 1931 – 13 September 2015) was an English first-class cricketer. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, ...
and fast bowler
Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster.
Acknowled ...
. Another newcomer
Bob Appleyard
Robert Appleyard (27 June 1924 – 17 March 2015) was a Yorkshire and England first-class cricketer. He was one of the best English bowlers of the 1950s, a decade which saw England develop its strongest bowling attack of the twentieth century. ...
became the first bowler to take 200 wickets in his first full season in 1951. The 1950s were dominated by Surrey, who won seven successive championships. Yorkshire had internal problems which were resolved before the
1959 season in which Yorkshire recovered the title under
Ronnie Burnet
John Ronald Burnet OBE (11 October 1918 – 6 March 1999) was an English first-class cricketer and the last amateur captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Yet despite this, and his modest playing record, he is remembered as a success in that ...
.
The 1960s saw a new Yorkshire team emerge that dominated English cricket. Brian Close was made captain in 1963 and won
the Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divis ...
in his first season. The team included Fred Trueman, all-rounder
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20, ...
, wicket-keeper
Jimmy Binks
James Graham Binks (born 5 October 1935) is a former English cricketer who played as a wicket-keeper for Yorkshire. Although he was regarded by many as the best wicket-keeper of his generation, his limited batting ability restricted him to just ...
and Test batsmen
Geoffrey Boycott
Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...
,
Doug Padgett,
Phil Sharpe and
John Hampshire
John Harry Hampshire (10 February 1941 – 1 March 2017), also known as Jack Hampshire, was an English cricketer and umpire, who played eight Tests and three One Day Internationals (ODIs) for England between 1969 and 1975. He played first-class ...
. The team began to break up after winning a third successive title
in 1968 and Close was controversially sacked in 1970.
1971–2000
There followed a long-running current of unrest in the club. There was sadness too in 1973 when Bramall Lane, the club's first ever home, was finally closed to cricket after over 400 first-class matches and was converted into a specialist football stadium.
Geoff Boycott captained Yorkshire for most of the 1970s, but competitive success eluded the team even when Boycott left Test cricket for three years to concentrate on the county game. He was sacked as captain amid much internal furore after the 1978 season. Ray Illingworth returned from Leicestershire as team manager and, in 1982 at the age of 50, took over the captaincy. 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. There was further controversy when Boycott was not offered a new contract. The outcome of this was that the general committee resigned and Boycott, having already been elected to the new committee, was reinstated as a player. Meanwhile, Brian Close became chairman of the cricket committee. Success continued to elude Yorkshire although
Phil Carrick led the team to a Benson and Hedges Cup triumph in 1987.
Yorkshire put themselves at a self-evident disadvantage from 1968 until 1992 by insisting that all its players must have been born within the
historic county boundaries of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, while all the other county teams strengthened themselves by signing overseas Test players. In 1992, the birth qualification rule was first modified to include those who had been educated within the county, a dispensation that allowed
Michael Vaughan
Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...
to play; and was then eventually abandoned altogether. Yorkshire's first ever overseas player that season was 19-year-old
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...
.
2001 to present
Yorkshire finally won the County Championship again in 2001 when the captain was
David Byas. Yorkshire had mixed success in the first decade of the 21st century but finished a close third in the 2010 championship under
Andrew Gale
Andrew William Gale (born 28 November 1983) is an English cricket coach and former first-class cricketer, who was first XI coach of Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 2016 to 2021. He also co-owns Pro Coach Cricket Academy, with his business par ...
.
There had for many years been a controversial issue about the apparent inability of players from Yorkshire's large ethnic minority population to make their way at the club. Tendulkar was the first Asian player to represent Yorkshire, but he was an overseas player. It was not until 2003 that Dewsbury's
Ismail Dawood became the first British-born Asian to play for Yorkshire. He was followed by
Ajmal Shahzad
Ajmal Shahzad (born 27 July 1985) is an English cricket coach and retired cricketer. He was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.
As a right-arm fast bowler, he played first class cricket for five counties Yorkshire ...
and
Adil Rashid
Adil Usman Rashid (born 17 February 1988) is an English cricketer who plays for England in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket, and previously played for the Test team. In domestic cricket, he represents Yorks ...
who have both represented England. In 2007,
Azeem Rafiq
Azeem Rafiq (; born 27 February 1991) is an English cricketer who played professionally in England for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. A right-arm off-spin bowler, Rafiq played for the county between 2008 and 2014 and 2016 and 2018, making his sen ...
as a member of Yorkshire's academy team became the first player of an Asian background to captain England at any level when he was appointed U-15 captain. In the summer of 2012, Rafiq stepped in for the injured Andrew Gale to captain the team in six T20 matches, becoming the first player of Asian origin to lead the county, as well as the youngest captain in the club's history.
The club were relegated at the end of a disappointing 2011 season, leading to major restructuring in the coaching staff, with former Yorkshire and Australia player
Jason Gillespie
Jason Neil Gillespie (born 19 April 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Jason Gillespie was appointed as the head coach for Pakistan's red-ball (Test) cricket team on April 28, 202 ...
brought in as coach. After swiftly regaining promotion, Gillespie set about revamping the team who made a strong title challenge in 2013, eventually finishing runners-up. Yorkshire improved on that by winning the title in both 2014 and 2015, which was their last to date.
Accusations of institutional racism
In 2020, Yorkshire were accused of
institutional racism
Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of institutional discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race or ethnic group and can include policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organizati ...
by former player Azeem Rafiq.
In 2021, the ECB suspended Yorkshire from holding Test matches because their handling of the issue was causing reputational damage to the sport, while former Yorkshire captain
Gary Ballance
Gary Simon Ballance (born 22 November 1989) is an English-Zimbabwean former cricketer who represented England from 2013 to 2017 and also represented Zimbabwe internationally in 2023. He is a left-handed batsman and a leg break bowler, who last p ...
, who admitted using
racist language, was indefinitely suspended from national selection. The ECB wrote in a statement that there were problems with the governance and management of the club.
Badge and colours
Lord Hawke, in the early days of his captaincy, designed the white rose badge. Copying the idea from Lancashire, who already had adopted the red rose as a symbol, Hawke designed a rose which, unlike Lancashire's, was not a real flower. He created a rose with eleven petals, to represent the eleven players of the team, based on the hedge rose. Only players who had received their
county cap
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...
were allowed to wear the badge. It was not until the 1980s that the committee allowed the design to be placed on merchandise as a marketing device. Yorkshire's club colours are dark blue, light blue and gold; these are knitted in bands forming the v-neck of each player's sweater.
Ground history

As with all county cricket clubs, Yorkshire 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
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
, although the club played some home matches outside the historic borders at Sheffield's
Abbeydale Park
Abbeydale Park is a sports venue in Dore, South Yorkshire, England. It is unusual in having hosted home games for two different county cricket teams.
History
The Park first opened for cricket in 1921, with the first pavilion being completed ...
, which was
historically
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
part of
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, from 1974 to 1996.
The club was founded on 8 January 1863 in the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield and was initially based at
Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United.
The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...
. Yorkshire first played at
North Marine Road, Scarborough
North Marine Road Ground, formerly known as Queen's, is a cricket ground in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Scarborough Cricket Club which hosts the Scarborough Festival and the Yorkshire County Cricket Club plays a se ...
in the
1878 season. This remains the venue for the annual
Scarborough Festival
{{No footnotes, date=July 2011
The Scarborough Festival is an end of season series of cricket matches featuring Yorkshire County Cricket Club which has been held in Scarborough, on the east coast of Yorkshire, since 1876. The ground, at North Ma ...
matches. Headingley was first established in 1888 and Test cricket was first played there in 1899, eight years later than it hosted its inaugural
first-class match when Yorkshire played
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
in 1891, the year in which the club's headquarters moved there. The "out grounds" in Hull, Sheffield, Bradford, Middlesbrough and Harrogate were used with great success until the 1970s.

On 31 December 2005, Yorkshire purchased the Headingley cricket ground for £12 million from the ''Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletic Company'', parent company of the
Leeds rugby league club, with the help of a £9 million loan from
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...
. 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
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univer ...
and the club announced plans on 11 January 2006 to rebuild the stand next to the rugby ground with 3,000 extra seats, taking capacity to 20,000. The club also announced plans to redevelop the Winter shed (North) stand on 25 August 2006 providing a £12.5 million pavilion complex.
Sponsorship
The club was founded in 1863 to be owned by its members who have elected various officials including the club's general committee, which existed until 2002 when it was replaced by a board of management headed by a chief executive. The office of club President still exists (see list below) and (in 2017) there are seven board members including the chief executive and the director of cricket. In addition to the board members, there are a director of finance and a human resources manager who is also personal assistant (PA) to both the board and chief executive. Among other roles are coaching, groundstaff, physiotherapy, operations, marketing, retail and community development. The once-influential post of club Secretary effectively ceased in 2002 although the club did have a company secretary for three years. That function has now disappeared under the broader structure and the present secretary as such is the finance director.
Like all county clubs, Yorkshire relies heavily on sponsorship and numerous companies have formed deals with the club over many years. Current partners and sponsors can be found on the club website.
Players
Current squad
* No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
* denotes players with international caps.
* denotes a player who has been awarded a
county cap
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...
.
All players
The following represented
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
while playing for Yorkshire:
*
Bob Appleyard
Robert Appleyard (27 June 1924 – 17 March 2015) was a Yorkshire and England first-class cricketer. He was one of the best English bowlers of the 1950s, a decade which saw England develop its strongest bowling attack of the twentieth century. ...
*
Tom Armitage
Thomas Armitage (25 April 1848 – 21 September 1922) was an English first-class cricketer, who in 1877 took part in what are retrospectively recognised as the first two Test matches played by England. The players in these matches having been ...
*
Bill Athey
Charles William Jeffrey Athey (born 27 September 1957) is a retired English first-class cricketer, who played for England, and first-class cricket for Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Sussex; he also played a solitary one-day game for Worcesters ...
*
David Bairstow
David Leslie Bairstow (1 September 1951 – 5 January 1998) was an English cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England as a wicket-keeper. He also played football for his hometown club Bradford City. He is the father of England internation ...
*
Jonny Bairstow
Jonathan Marc Bairstow (born 26 September 1989) is an English cricketer who played internationally for England cricket team, England in all formats as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batter. In domestic cricket, he has played for Yorkshire County C ...
*
Gary Ballance
Gary Simon Ballance (born 22 November 1989) is an English-Zimbabwean former cricketer who represented England from 2013 to 2017 and also represented Zimbabwe internationally in 2023. He is a left-handed batsman and a leg break bowler, who last p ...
*
Wilf Barber
Wilfred Barber (18 April 1901 – 10 September 1968) was a professional first-class cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1926 to 1947. He played two Test matches for England in 1935 against South Africa. An opening batsm ...
*
Billy Bates
Willie Bates (19 November 1855 – 8 January 1900), known as Billy Bates, was an English cricketer. Skilled with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field. A ...
*
Jimmy Binks
James Graham Binks (born 5 October 1935) is a former English cricketer who played as a wicket-keeper for Yorkshire. Although he was regarded by many as the best wicket-keeper of his generation, his limited batting ability restricted him to just ...
*
Richard Blakey
*
Brian Bolus
John Brian Bolus (31 January 1934 – 7 May 2020) was an English cricketer who played in seven Test matches from 1963 to 1964. Cricket commentator Colin Bateman stated, "Bolus was essentially an accumulator, dependably totting up 25,000 run ...
*
Major Booth
Major William Booth (10 December 1886 – 1 July 1916) was a cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1908 and 1914, a season in which he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
Note that "Major" was a given na ...
*
Bill Bowes
William Eric Bowes (25 July 1908 – 4 September 1987) was an English professional cricketer active from 1929 to 1947 who played in 372 first-class matches as a right arm fast bowler and a right-handed tail end batsman. He took 1,639 wicket ...
*
Geoffrey Boycott
Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...
*
Don Brennan
*
Tim Bresnan
Timothy Thomas Bresnan (born 28 February 1985) is an English former first-class cricketer, who last played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club, Warwickshire. He played as a fast-medium bowler who had ability with the bat. He was a member of t ...
*
Harry Brook
Harry Cherrington Brook (born 22 February 1999) is an English international cricketer who plays for England in all three formats of the game and is ODI and T20I captain. Brook plays domestic cricket for Yorkshire. Primarily a right-handed bats ...
*
Jack Brown
*
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close, (24 February 1931 – 13 September 2015) was an English first-class cricketer. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, ...
*
Geoff Cope
*
Alec Coxon
*
Richard Dawson
Richard Dawson (born Colin Lionel Emm; 20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was an English-American actor, comedian, game-show host, and panelist. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in ''Hogan's Heroes'', as a regular panel ...
*
David Denton
*
Arthur Dolphin
*
Tom Emmett
Thomas Emmett (3 September 1841 – 29 June 1904) was an English cricket bowler in the late 1860s, the 1870s and the early 1880s.
Cricket career
Born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, Emmett first joined Yorkshire when almost 25 as a p ...
*
Paul Gibb
Paul Antony Gibb (11 July 1913 – 7 December 1977) was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1938 to 1946. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, Yorkshire and Essex, as a right-handed opening or mid ...
*
Darren Gough
Darren Gough (born 18 September 1970) is a retired English cricketer and former captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The spearhead of England's bowling attack through much of the 1990s, he is England's second highest wicket-taker in one-d ...
*
Andrew Greenwood
Andrew Greenwood (20 August 1847 – 12 February 1889) was an English professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1869 to 1880. He was born and died in Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was a member of the E ...
*
Schofield Haigh
Schofield Haigh (19 March 1871 – 27 February 1921) was a Yorkshire and England cricketer. He played for nineteen seasons for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, sporadically for England cricket team, England from 1898–99 to 1912, and was a ''Wisd ...
*
Gavin Hamilton Gavin Hamilton may refer to:
* Gavin Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews) (died 1571), archbishop of St Andrews
* Gavin Hamilton (bishop of Galloway) (1561–1612), bishop of Galloway
* Gavin Hamilton (artist) (1723–1798), Scottish artist
* Ga ...
*
John Hampshire
John Harry Hampshire (10 February 1941 – 1 March 2017), also known as Jack Hampshire, was an English cricketer and umpire, who played eight Tests and three One Day Internationals (ODIs) for England between 1969 and 1975. He played first-class ...
*
Lord Hawke
Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near ...
*
Allen Hill
*
George Hirst
George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...
*
Matthew Hoggard
Matthew James Hoggard, (born 31 December 1976) is a former English cricketer, who played international cricket for England cricket team from 2000 to 2008, playing both Test cricket and One Day Internationals. The 6' 2" Hoggard was a right arm f ...
*
Percy Holmes
Percy Holmes (25 November 1886 – 3 September 1971) was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England.
Holmes was born in Oakes, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. An opening batsman and a fine fielder, Holmes was a l ...
*
Joseph Hunter
*
Richard Hutton
*
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an Batting order (cricket)#Opening batsmen, opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England national cricket team ...
*
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20, ...
*
Stanley Jackson Stanley Jackson may refer to:
* Stanley Jackson (cricketer) (1870–1947), English cricketer and politician
* Stanley Jackson (gridiron football) (born 1975), quarterback
* Stan Jackson (quarterback), quarterback for Cal Poly Pomona, set college fo ...
*
Paul Jarvis
Paul William Jarvis (born 29 June 1965) is a former English cricketer, who played in nine Tests and sixteen ODIs for England from 1988 to 1993.
Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, remarked, "Jarvis always had much potential as a well-coordinated p ...
*
Roy Kilner
Roy Kilner (17 October 1890 – 5 April 1928) was an English professional cricketer who played nine Test matches for England between 1924 and 1926. An all-rounder, he played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1911 and 1927. In all first ...
*
Eddie Leadbeater
Edric "Eddie" Leadbeater (15 August 1927 – 17 April 2011) was an English cricketer who played in two Tests in 1951. He was born in Lockwood, Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, and died in Huddersfield.
Leadbeater was a right-handed lowe ...
*
Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland (20 July 1900 – 1 January 1967) was an English international cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938. In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1946, scoring ove ...
*
Frank Lowson
Frank Anderson Lowson (1 July 1925 – 8 September 1984) was an English cricketer, who played in seven Tests for England from 1951 to 1955. In first-class cricket, Lowson amassed 15,321 runs at an average of over 37, but had drifted away from ...
*
Adam Lyth
Adam Lyth (born 25 September 1987) is a former English Test cricketer, who has played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club since 2007. He is a left-handed opening batsman.
Career
Domestic career
Born 25 September 1987, Whitby, North Yorkshire, L ...
*
George Macaulay
George Gibson Macaulay (7 December 1897 – 13 December 1940) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1935. He played in eight Test matches for England from 1923 to ...
*
Anthony McGrath
Anthony McGrath (born 6 October 1975) is an English cricket coach and former first-class cricketer, who played county cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1995 to 2012. He was a right-handed batsman and bowled part-time right-arm mediu ...
*
Frank Milligan
*
Arthur Mitchell
*
Frank Mitchell
*
Martyn Moxon
Martyn Douglas Moxon (born 4 May 1960) is a former English cricketer, who played in ten Test matches and eight One Day Internationals for England and for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1980 and 1997. In May 2007, Moxon was confirmed as Di ...
*
Chris Old
Chris Old (born Christopher Middleton Old, 22 December 1948) is a former English cricketer, who played 46 Tests and 32 ODIs from 1972 to 1981. A right-arm fast-medium bowler and lower order left-handed batsman, Old was a key feature of the Yor ...
*
Doug Padgett
*
Ted Peate
Edmund Peate (2 March 1855 – 11 March 1900) was an English professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the English cricket team.
Overview
Born on 2 March 1855 in Holbeck near Leeds in Yorkshire, Peate's career, wh ...
*
Bobby Peel
Robert Peel (12 February 1857 – 12 August 1941) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective left-handed batsman ...
*
Liam Plunkett
Liam Edward Plunkett (born 6 April 1985) is an English cricketer who bowls right-arm fast medium. He was an England cricket team, England international until 2019, and was part of the squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He most recently ...
*
Adil Rashid
Adil Usman Rashid (born 17 February 1988) is an English cricketer who plays for England in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket, and previously played for the Test team. In domestic cricket, he represents Yorks ...
*
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman ...
*
Joe Root
Joseph Edward Root, (born 30 December 1990) is an English international cricketer, who plays for the England cricket team, English cricket team and formerly captained the Test team. He also represents Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire ...
*
Ajmal Shahzad
Ajmal Shahzad (born 27 July 1985) is an English cricket coach and retired cricketer. He was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.
As a right-arm fast bowler, he played first class cricket for five counties Yorkshire ...
*
Phil Sharpe
*
Arnie Sidebottom
Arnold Sidebottom (born 1 April 1954) is an English former footballer and cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and played one Test match for England.
Football
Sidebottom was born in Shawlands, Barnsley, Yorkshire, and started off as a ...
*
Ryan Sidebottom
Ryan Jay Sidebottom (born 15 January 1978) is a former England international cricketer who played domestic cricket for Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and retired in 2017, after taking more than 1,000 career wickets. He is the only player in the ...
*
Chris Silverwood
Christopher Eric Wilfred Silverwood (born 5 March 1975) is an English former international cricketer and coach. He is a former head coach of the Sri Lanka Cricket Team and previously the England Cricket Team.
Early life and domestic playing c ...
*
Frank Smailes
*
Gerald Smithson
Gerald Arthur Smithson (1 November 1926 – 6 September 1970) was an English cricketer who played in two Tests for England in 1947–48. He was born at Spofforth, West Riding of Yorkshire and died at Abingdon, Oxfordshire. His original famil ...
*
R. T. Stanyforth
Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald Thomas "Rony" Stanyforth, (30 May 1892 – 20 February 1964) was an Army officer and English amateur first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, captaining England in the four Te ...
*
Graham Stevenson
Graham Barry Stevenson (16 December 1955 – 21 January 2014) was an English cricketer, who played in two Test matches and four One Day Internationals from 1980 to 1981.
His county cricket career was spent mainly with Yorkshire and, latterly, ...
*
Frank Sugg
Frank Howe Sugg (11 January 1862 – 29 May 1933) was an English footballer and first-class cricketer. He played for England in two Test matches in 1888 and for three county cricket clubs – Yorkshire in 1883, Derbyshire from 1884 to 1886 and L ...
*
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English Professionalism#Sports, professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England as an opening batsman. A ...
*
Ken Taylor
*
George Thornton
*
Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster.
Acknowled ...
*
George Ulyett
George Ulyett (21 October 1851 – 18 June 1898) was an English cricketer, noted particularly for his very aggressive batsmanship. A well-liked man (who, in later years, kept a pub in his native Sheffield), Ulyett was popularly known as "Happy ...
*
Michael Vaughan
Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...
*
Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity (18 May 1905 – 31 July 1943) was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England between 1930 and 1939. A Left-arm orthodox spin, slow left-arm orth ...
*
Abe Waddington
Abraham "Abe" Waddington, sometimes known as Abram Waddington (4 February 1893 – 28 October 1959), was a professional cricketer for Yorkshire, who played in two Test matches for England, both against Australia in 1920–21. Between 191 ...
*
Ted Wainwright
Ted Wainwright (8 April 1865 – 28 October 1919) was an English first-class cricketer, who played in 352 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1888 and 1902. An all-rounder, Wainwright helped to establish the county at ...
*
Albert Ward
*
Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle (8 January 1923 – 23 July 1985) was an English spin bowling cricketer whose Test Match career lasted between 1948 and 1957. His Test bowling average of 20.39 is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler since ...
*
Willie Watson
*
Craig White
Craig White (born 1969) is an English former international cricketer. He is currently a cricket coach.
Domestic career
Born 16 December 1969, Morley, West Yorkshire, England, White was brought up in Australia, but later moved back to England, ...
*
David Willey
*
Don Wilson
*
Clem Wilson
The Reverend Clement Eustace Macro Wilson (15 May 1875 – 8 February 1944) was an English amateur first-class cricketer and Church of England clergyman.
Cricket career
Wilson played first-class cricket for Cambridge University between 1895 and ...
*
Rockley Wilson
*
Arthur Wood
*
Norman Yardley
Norman Walter Dransfield Yardley (19 March 1915 – 3 October 1989) was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England, as a right-handed batsman and occasional bowler. An amateur, he ca ...
Club captains
Four Yorkshire players – Stanley Jackson, Len Hutton, Ray Illingworth and
Michael Vaughan
Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...
– have captained
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
to success in
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...
yet none of them was club captain at the time (Ray Illingworth had just left Yorkshire for
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
when he became captain of England; he later returned to Yorkshire).
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 was Major
Arthur Lupton who restored discipline to the side when a row erupted between Yorkshire and Middlesex in 1924.
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 and when the day comes when we shall have no more amateurs captaining England it will be a thousand pities."
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 become 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.
[
In 1960, Vic Wilson became Yorkshire's first professional captain since Tom Emmett when he succeeded Ronnie Burnet. Brian Close, who took over in 1963, has been Yorkshire's most successful professional captain with four County Championships.
]
Club officials
Directors of Cricket
* 2002 Geoff Cope
* 2007–2021 Martyn Moxon
Martyn Douglas Moxon (born 4 May 1960) is a former English cricketer, who played in ten Test matches and eight One Day Internationals for England and for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1980 and 1997. In May 2007, Moxon was confirmed as Di ...
Managing Director of Cricket
* 2021 to 2024 Darren Gough
Darren Gough (born 18 September 1970) is a retired English cricketer and former captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The spearhead of England's bowling attack through much of the 1990s, he is England's second highest wicket-taker in one-d ...
Coaching staff
*Head Coach Anthony McGrath
Anthony McGrath (born 6 October 1975) is an English cricket coach and former first-class cricketer, who played county cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1995 to 2012. He was a right-handed batsman and bowled part-time right-arm mediu ...
br>
*Assistant Coach Mick Lewis
Michael Llewellyn Lewis (born 29 June 1974) is an Australian cricketer.
Grade career and state career
Born in Greensborough, Victoria, Lewis was a grade cricketer who played for Northcote and the Victorian Bushrangers gave him his first-class ...
*Assistant Coach John Sadler
*Second Eleven Coach Tom Smith
Officers
Club Presidents
Those who have held the office of Yorkshire President are:
Club Secretaries
Those who have held the office of Yorkshire Secretary are:[
]
Honours
First XI honours
* County Championship (32) – 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, 2014, 2015; shared (1) – 1949
* FP Trophy (3) – 1965, 1969, 2002
* National League (1) – 1983
* Benson & Hedges Cup (1) – 1987
Second XI honours
* Second XI Championship (5) – 1977, 1984, 1991, 2003, 2022; shared (1) – 1987
* Second XI Trophy (1) – 2009, 2017
* Minor Counties Championship (5) – 1947, 1957, 1958, 1968, 1971
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
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* Yorkshire County Cricket Club
{{Authority control
1863 establishments in England
Cricket clubs established in 1863
Cricket in Yorkshire
English first-class cricket teams
History of Yorkshire
First-class cricket teams