Yorkshire are prepared to compromise over the naming of a Headingley-based side in the new Twenty20 competition, but remain adamant that it cannot be specific to a city within their borders.
The latest ECB report into the eight-team tournament, due to start in 2020, includes a stated principle that fresh competition and team brands “must drive reappraisal and differentiation from existing county products”.
This suits the non-international grounds, known as Category Cs, who believe that their own games in the NatWest T20 Blast — due to be preserved as an 18-team event from 2020 — may be devalued if Test-based counties also feature by name in the higher-profile event.
The chairman of one non-Test county, who has previously expressed reservations, said that “a red-line issue has been addressed” but warned “there is still a long way to go” in terms of satisfying all the critics before the county chairmen and chief executives meet on March 27.
Although Yorkshire wanted any team at the ground to bear the county name, Steve Denison, their chairman, does not see the ECB position as a mortal blow. He said: “There is more sensitivity here about a team playing at Headingley called the Leeds something-or-other than the loss of the Yorkshire name. Anything using a city name would cause massive angst.
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“One route I think would be well worth the ECB exploring would be to have Headingley as part of the name. That might apply to teams at the Oval and Old Trafford too.
“We think, by name, we are the biggest cricket club in the world. We are stating our case, but at the same time we have £23 million of debt and even after refinancing we are paying over £600,000 in financing costs.
“Anything the ECB is doing to repay debt in cricket as a whole we are very supportive of, because that debt is crippling the game.”
The Times revealed yesterday that a draft schedule has the 50-over competition running alongside the new event, pushing it to the bottom of domestic priorities. Denison suggested that the Royal London Cup is already struggling to maintain its appeal, with Headingley one-day crowds down 16 per cent last season.
A draft to determine the eight squads for the new Twenty20 competition will include players from all 18 counties alongside overseas stars, but the latest report states that the tournament “should not be a driver to encourage greater movement of players from Category C to Category A [Test] first-class counties.”
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The ECB has commissioned Two Circles, a data-driven marketing agency based in London, to investigate the merits of potential venues. One criterion will be the ability to attract “new fan groups — families, children, young people, women, ethnically diverse audiences etc.”