Yorkshire CCC fans to retain double helping at Scarborough

An impressive crowd watches on at Scarborough as Yorkshire took on Nottinghamshire in the recent four-day encounter (Picture: Richard Ponter).

YORKSHIRE are to keep two County Championship matches per season at Scarborough despite cuts to the fixture list.

The club have confirmed that North Marine Road will continue to stage two four-day games despite counties playing only 14 games next season instead of 16.

However, Scarborough will lose its two annual one-day games, which will now revert to the club’s Headingley headquarters.

Mark Arthur, the Yorkshire chief executive, said: “Scarborough is somewhere that’s very special.

“It’s the jewel in the crown for Championship cricket in this country, let alone Yorkshire.

“I think anybody who was at Scarborough recently for the match against Notts saw everything that the ground has to offer.

“It was magnificent cricket, which fluctuated from time to time, and we had unbelievable crowds.”

Yorkshire took the decision to keep two Championship fixtures at North Marine Road after consulting with their members.

It means that there will only be five home Championship matches at Headingley next summer instead of six.

“We put it to the membership and stakeholders, and 84 per cent of people voted in favour of keeping two Championship games at Scarborough,” said Arthur.

“I would have thought probably 60-70 per cent would have been in favour, so 84 per cent was quite compelling.

“More than 1,000 people responded, so it really was a proper reflection of members’ views.

“Instinctively, we felt that it was the right thing to do as an administration, and it’s good that we’ve been backed up as we have.”