Yorkshire CCC cancels pre-season tour to Middle East and heads for Spain instead
YORKSHIRE have cancelled their pre-season tour to Abu Dhabi because of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and made alternative arrangements to visit Spain.
As reported in The Yorkshire Post, the men’s squad had been due to fly to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday for a two-week tour, with the club busily seeking a different destination.
They have now alighted on Desert Springs, a popular resort in south-east Spain featuring world-class cricket and sporting facilities.
The squad will leave the UK on Sunday for a ten-day trip, while the club said that it will update “in due course” on Yorkshire women’s proposed tour to Abu Dhabi later in the month, which is clearly also in doubt.
Gavin Hamilton, the Yorkshire general manager of cricket, has had his work cut out in recent days trying to deal with the various complexities of a challenging situation.
He is unlikely to have factored the whims of Donald Trump into his pre-season thinking but has acted quickly with the club itself to navigate the issues.
“Given the ongoing situation in the Middle East, the safety of all our players and staff is of paramount importance to us,” said Hamilton on Wednesday afternoon.
“As a result of this, we’ve worked swiftly to rearrange our plans, and we’re pleased to have turned this alternative provision around in such a short space of time.
“We’ve been really pleased with the workloads and the level of cricket shown by our players over the winter, and the camp in Desert Springs allows us a great opportunity to build on this further.
“It will also give the players an opportunity to collectively come together for the first time this winter and will ensure they have enough preparation time ahead of the start of the season next month.”
The touring party will include Matty Revis and James Wharton, who are now back in the UK with the England Lions squad whose tour of the UAE was abruptly curtailed.
Jonny Bairstow, the club captain on holiday in Dubai with his young family, has been another affected, with commercial flights only just starting to return.
The season begins on April 3.