Yorkshire giving their support to summer Conference trial run format

The club is backing what would effectively be a trial run to determine whether it is the best way forward for the four-day game.

Sixteen of the 18 first-class counties are understood to be in favour of the change after the success this year of the Bob Willis Trophy, which saw the clubs divided into three regional groups of six followed by a five-day final as a temporary solution to the coronavirus crisis.

A continuation of the format into next summer would abolish the regional element and see teams instead split into three conferences of six based on their finishing position in the 2019 Championship, abolishing promotion and relegation and potentially leading to another five-day final to determine the winners.

Mark Arthur, the Yorkshire chief executive, said: “I think there’s a mood for next year only to have the Conference system.

“Certainly that’s been our preference for quite some time; we think a Conference system is fairer and also allows us to develop our players at the same time as having the potential of winning.

“We are very much in favour of it and we’re hopeful, as the indicators are, that cricket will go that way next year, for one year only, in order to test the market, if you like. It would basically be a trial run to see whether the players and the supporters enjoy the experience, and personally I think it will be great fun.”

Yorkshire have long championed a system whose advocates believe it will encourage clubs to produce and pick young English players, free from the threat of relegation, and dissuade short-term thinking/signings.

“We had a chairmen and chief execs meeting recently where each county was invited to give their preference, and a bit more detail had to be worked up – are the county champions the team that finishes top of the Premier Division, for example, or do you have to win a Lord’s final to be the county champions?” added Arthur. “There’s still to be a vote, but the early indications are there will be a majority view in favour of this system.

“I think it’s good because it gives each county a chance of winning the competition and, if you got to a point where you couldn’t win it, you might take the opportunity to play one or two youngsters which you might not otherwise do if you think there’s a chance you might be relegated.

“As for the rest of next year’s schedule, there’s obviously a lot of uncertainty but I think there will be a move to push the T20 back to later in the season in order to maximise the potential for full houses.”

The Conference system would see teams one, four, seven, 10, 13 and 16 from the existing pyramid form Conference One; teams two, five, eight, 11, 14 and 17 form Conference Two, and sides three, six, nine, 12, 15 and 18 form Conference Three. Based on 2019, Yorkshire would be in Conference Two with Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Sussex and Worcestershire.

Teams would play 10 games (five home, five away) and then be split into three new divisions, with the first and second-placed teams from each Conference going into Division One, the third and fourth-placed sides into Division Two, and the fifth and sixth-placed teams into Division Three.

Clubs would play a further four games (two home, two away, avoiding their opponents in the Conference stage), with the top-two from Division One contesting any final. Prize money would be paid down to 14th place and, if the system persisted, each year’s finishing positions would determine the following year’s Conferences.

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James Mitchinson