Exclusive: Lighting up the international stage

The Yorkshire chief executive believes the club have a great opportunity to showcase Headingley to the watching world as they aim to secure the long-term future of Leeds as an international venue and guarantee such lucrative fixtures in the future.

Yorkshire have a staging agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board to host international games at Headingley until 2019, after which they will need to negotiate a new deal with the governing body.

With Headingley set for a 17,200 sell-out tomorrow, and with mouthwatering international matches to look forward to next year in the form of a Sri Lanka Test in June and an India ODI in September, Arthur is optimistic Yorkshire can withstand increasing competition to stage England games and safeguard Headingley’s long-term position.

“The Australia ODI is a sell-out and we also anticipate that the India ODI in a year’s time will be a sell-out, and in addition to staging those games successfully we need to prove to the ECB that we are worthy of staging Test match cricket post-2019 when there is great competition,” said Arthur.

“Next year, for example, Edgbaston don’t have a Test match and yet they have a 25,000 capacity and top facilities.

“It’s great for the people of Yorkshire and great for the city of Leeds that we are staging international events of the pedigree of this Australia match.

“But we need to keep showing that we can sell out international games at Headingley to make sure that we keep getting those international games in the future.”

Yorkshire’s cash boost from the Australia contest will help offset what is likely to be a significant financial loss for 2013 on the back of a disappointing New Zealand Test in May.

Arthur conceded Yorkshire were “miles away” from achieving budget on that game, which was rain-affected and held at a time of year when it is traditionally harder to sell tickets.

However, Arthur has come to Leeds with a new broom and fresh ideas – he was appointed too late to significantly influence strategy for the New Zealand Test – and he has already announced reduced ticket prices for next summer’s Test along with plans to improve the West Stand environment with separate areas for families, fancy dress, and so on.

A hugely positive and determined character, who brings a wealth of experience from 20 years at the highest levels of cricket and football administration, Arthur is extremely optimistic for Headingley’s future.

“Next year promises to be very different in terms of our Test match performance,” he added.

“The timing is far better; we’re starting four weeks later, which will make an enormous difference to our ability to sell tickets, and we’re not competing with the Bank Holiday and the football season or anything like that.

“We’ve reduced ticket prices in certain areas and we’re bringing in segregation and renaming elements of the West Stand in order to improve the overall environment of Headingley.

“There will be plenty of other things that we do between now and June 20 to make this an even better setting for Test match cricket, and everything about the timing of that game and the nature of the opposition is very positive for us.”

Yorkshire’s ability to keep up with the Jones’s depends on their ability to sell international tickets and to maintain and improve Headingley’s facilities.

At present, they are one of nine grounds bidding for an average of seven Tests per summer, a state of affairs that is far from ideal.

Although stymied at present by a sizeable debt, which is roughly £20m, Yorkshire are doing what they can to maintain their historic status as one of England’s traditional Test match centres in the face of increasing competition from such comparative newcomers as Cardiff’s SWALEC Stadium, Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl and Durham’s Chester-le-Street venue.

Arthur is committed to a policy of sensible investment, with Yorkshire’s desire to install floodlights an ongoing imperative that could help their cause to stage such events as games in the 2019 World Cup.

“We’ve got to try to improve our facilities and the No 1 priority is getting floodlights,” said Arthur, who confirmed Yorkshire have ruled out the possibility of taking floodlights from the decommissioned Don Valley Stadium.

“Once the season has finished we will start trawling the market to try to find a Yorkshire company that is interested in sponsoring our floodlights.

“The sooner we get them installed the better, but at this moment in time we don’t have the financial wherewithal to get it done.

“We’re going through the process of getting planning permission to install them, then we’ve got to raise the necessary funds, and although we get a grant of £800,000 from the ECB we need to raise a further £1m to make it happen and we cannot afford to add to our debt situation.”

Spectators are reminded that tomorrow’s match starts at 10.15am. Gates open at 8.15am.