Yorkshire clubs not bowled over by shake-up to women's game

Clubs at opposite ends of the White Rose county's cricketing spectrum have raised objection to proposals by the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation to expand and regionalise the women's and girls' pathway.

- by Harriet Sutton

The pathway to success for women in Yorkshire could be changing.

Representatives from Sheffield Collegiate in the south and Sessay near Thirsk in the north fear the move will dilute the standard of cricket.

The YCF recently announced plans to expand its Women's Premier League to three leagues, with the eight teams currently in the Yorkshire Women and Girls Cricket League (YWGCL) being spread across the new regionalised divisions.

As it stands, the YWGCL is a competitive standalone league run by clubs across the county consisting of many players involved in the Yorkshire development pathway.

Below that, there are three regionalised leagues split into North and East Yorkshire, the South Yorkshire League and the West Yorkshire League.

Under that system, only the North and East came under the Premier League umbrella, but that will now be joined by the South and West leagues.

The intention of the YCF is to combine these leagues and spread the current YWGCL sides across the county into these more regionalised divisions.