Yorkshire CCC to furlough most of its staff

Just under 40 staff have been offered leave of absence under the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

This enables businesses to claim a grant of up to 80 per cent on an employee’s salary up to a cap of £2,500 per month.

Yorkshire will fund any difference so that staff continue to receive full pay.

Mark Arthur, the Yorkshire chief executive, said: “At this unprecedented time, we have taken this positive step to protect jobs at the club.

“By taking advantage of the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, we are able to preserve jobs at Yorkshire cricket during such a difficult financial period.”

The Yorkshire Post understands that around 40 staff are affected, most of them office workers.

Around 15 staff will continue as normal, including senior coaches and officials.

It is thought that there are no plans to cut staff wages but that affected staff will be asked to forfeit two weeks’ annual leave.

None of the players are affected by the move, with the squad currently training at home until at least April 19.

Yorkshire’s decision to go down a route that many companies are taking comes after they recently closed their Emerald Headingley headquarters.

Staff have been operating at home in line with government advice during the ongoing lockdown, which was significantly ramped up by the government on Monday.

The club’s ticket office and club shop (including online sales) will not be operating until further notice.

Hospitality sales and queries will also not be processed.

The government has said that its job retention scheme will run for at least three months from March 1.

However, this could be extended if necessary.

Last week, the England and Wales Cricket Board said that the county cricket season will not begin until May 28 at the earliest due to the pandemic.

However, that date looks optimistic with the country effectively at a standstill, while any cricket that does take place later in the summer is likely to be white-ball dominated.

The ECB and the counties want to prioritise the money-spinning T20 Blast and also The Hundred, the new 100-ball tournament, which is worth around £2m to Yorkshire alone this year as one of the eight hosting counties.

But there are doubts as to whether even The Hundred will take place, particularly with uncertainty surrounding the availability of many overseas players, with a view among some counties that it might be better to wait until next year to launch the event.

Although their Headingley offices are closed, Yorkshire say that they will continue to field what they describe as any urgent enquiries via [email protected]