The ECB should accept Yorkshire CCC’s £1.3m olive branch and allow the county a women’s team

If there was ever any doubt that the club takes women’s cricket seriously then its offer to pay the £1.3m needed to fund the move itself should dispel those doubts.

The decision to snub Yorkshire is not only hugely damaging but also lacks rationale. Yorkshire is home to the largest active playing base of women and girls. The county has over 300 teams.

At a time when the women’s game is one of the key areas of growth in cricket, it is mind-boggling that the ECB would overlook a cricketing hotbed like Yorkshire.

Interest in women’s cricket is growing by the day, thanks to the Hundred. Now with the Women's Premier League (WPL) in India making many female cricketers household names across the globe, that growth is likely to continue.

It is therefore a huge shame that the ECB has snubbed Yorkshire when it comes to tier one status.

The move means control of the Northern Diamonds will go to Durham. The Diamonds have been based at Headingley since 2020 and it is there where the affinity of players lies.

Some have felt that this is punishment for the racism scandal that blighted the county in recent years. If that is the case then the move is self-defeating.

The ECB must do the pragmatic and morally right thing and accept Yorkshire’s £1.3m olive branch and give the county tier one status for the sake of our female cricketers at all levels.