Vikings invade cricket as Yorkshire sign new deal

Below: Yorkshire's Ryan Sidebottom and Moin Ashraf in the new one-day kit.

The county will play under the Vikings name for the first time on their its of Barbados, which starts on March 16 against Hampshire Royals at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown.

Yorkshire’s Commercial Director Andy Dawson said: “We wanted a new name that has relevance to the region.

“The Vikings have been ingrained in Yorkshire for over 1,000 years and are woven into the fabric of the County’s history. One of their legacies was establishing the Ridings of Yorkshire, which is still apparent in the geographical make-up of the region today.”

He added: “Cricket cannot be viewed simply as a sport. It is a form of entertainment that operates in a highly competitive environment vying for consumers’ leisure time.

“We hope that people and in particular children will identify with the Yorkshire Vikings and embrace the activity we have planned at Headingley this season.”

As part of the name change, Yorkshire has agreed a partnership with the Jorvik Viking Centre in York.

Sarah Maltby, Jorvik director of attraction, said: “We are very excited about this new partnership with Yorkshire County Cricket Club as we see it as our opportunity to tell more people about their Viking heritage and also work with them in the wider Yorkshire community; something that it is extremely important to us as an educational charity.“

Yorkshire's Ryan Sidebottom and Moin Ashraf in the new one-day kit.

The Yorkshire Vikings will wear two kits in one-day cricket during 2013. A predominantly yellow shirt with Oxford blue and Cambridge blue detail will be worn for the Friends Life t20 competition and a reverse colourway of an Oxford blue shirt with yellow and Cambridge blue detail will be worn in the Yorkshire Bank 40 competition.