Yorkshire CCC: ‘We accept that we’re under scrutiny and that the eyes of the world will be on us’

The club is viewing the game between England and New Zealand as the perfect chance to move on from the winter and to show the club in a positive light.

The final Test of the three-match series, which England lead 2-0, is one that Yorkshire briefly lost when they were banned from hosting international cricket after the allegations raised by former player Azeem Rafiq.

That ban was lifted after governance reforms demanded of the club by the England and Wales Cricket Board and now Yorkshire are hoping to take a big step forward in the public perception as they continue to try to rebuild their reputation.

Andy Dawson, the club’s acting chief operating officer, summed up the mood and determination at Yorkshire ahead of the match.

“We accept that we’re under scrutiny and that the eyes of the world will be on us, but we’re really looking forward to it,” said Dawson.

“We’ve had really good support from the Yorkshire public in terms of the attendances, and we’ve put a lot of work in during the winter to ensure that Headingley is a more welcoming, friendly and inclusive venue for everybody.

“We’ve been able to put some of these measures in place in some of the less high-profile games that we’ve had, but it will be great to really kind of unveil it to the public and everyone attending this week.

“We want people to have a great time and be mindful of however people want to experience watching cricket, and for them to be psychologically and physically safe when they’re here.”

Dawson, who urged fans to arrive early owing to the rail strikes, pinpointed key areas in which visitors can expect to see progress at Headingley.

Yorkshire have had to satisfy various criteria as part of the crisis and staff have worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

“We’re going out strongly with what we call our Respect campaign, and there’s three main areas to it really,” said Dawson.

“First, just informing everyone to respect each other and to promote the message that we don’t accept any anti-social behaviour or harassment of any kind; we have a zero-tolerance approach to that which will be heavily promoted.

“Linked to that we’ve created a five-digit number so that people can text RESPECT to 60650 to report any incidents anonymously, which goes straight to our control room.

“That message will be reinforced on concourses, in washrooms and things like that.

“Second, we’ve invested a lot of money into the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation and their ‘Yorkies Welcome Team’.

“They used to have about 35 volunteers who would be present on matchdays and major matchdays, but now there will be near to 100 volunteers who will have pink T-shirts with the Respect logo on their backs.

“These volunteers will be in front of the stewards to welcome everyone to the car parks, and so on.

“Thirdly, we have an alcohol management plan in place and a lot more options now for no and low alcohol drinks, mocktails and so on, just a lot more options for people basically.

“I guess they’re the three areas where we want to ensure that there’s a more welcome and friendly approach for all our guests who come to Headingley.”

Yorkshire have also looked hard at their food provision, pressing what Dawson calls “the reset button” to improve their overall matchday experience.

“We want to celebrate different cultures by having different foods, and we’ve also done a deal with Uber Eats so that people, from wherever they are in the ground, can order online on their phone and then pick up their food from designated points around the ground,” he said.

“That way, they’re not just limited to the concessions that are around the stadium.

“There’s been a lot to do and we’ve all been on a journey at the club and spent a lot of time trying to improve the experience for everyone who comes to our games.

“Hopefully, people will be able to see that and see also a cracking game of Test cricket between two great teams in a fantastic atmosphere.”

That atmosphere is set to be swelled by strong attendances, with days two and three sold out and only around 600 tickets left for day one and around 1,000 for day four.

Capacity will be in the region of 17,000.

“I’m really pleased with the ticket sales,” said Dawson.

“I was here in 2013 and 2015 when we last had Test matches against New Zealand, and although I can’t remember exactly what the crowds were, I do remember the headlines suggesting that Test match cricket was on the decline and we were over-pricing tickets.

“In terms of ticket revenue, we were under £1m for both of those games but for this game we’re about £2.2m.

“It’s been really strong in both tickets and hospitality and shows the Yorkshire public still love their Test cricket at Headingley.

“Hopefully, we can put on a great show for them and everyone will enjoy a fantastic experience.”