Dear all,
Now the 2025 season has concluded, we turn our minds towards the coming year's programme, beginning with our Observation process. Please find below some more information around the Yorkshire Regional Cricket and Yorkshire Early Engagement Observation process for 2025/26, as well as some more information around the programme(s) and process.
The Regional and Early Engagement Programmes
Regional Cricket is for Under 13 - Under 15 Cricketers, split into the Regions of North Yorkshire, East & Central Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. Yorkshire is blessed with a large volume of promising cricketers, who we seek to further develop and identify for future honours through our Regional Cricket Programme. This programme sits directly below our Yorkshire County Age Group programme, which it feeds into. Its purpose is to develop players and also provide them with a platform to showcase their skills for selection for Yorkshire County Age Group. Those selected from our Observations will train together as part of a 10-week winter training programme, before embarking on a high-quality 12-day match-play programme within the season.
Early Engagement forms the entry point into the Pathway for players at Under 12 and below, in the years before County Age Group cricket begins. It is the highest standard of cricket within the County at these ages. Early Engagement is also split into the four Regions, with players selected taking part in a 12-week winter programme and 18-day summer match-play programme.
The Observations
Observations are open to all who would like to attend and feel up to the required (high) standard. Regional Cricket (U13-U15) Observations will last for two weeks. Early Engagement Observations (U12s and below) will take place over six weeks, with the intention to give more chances to ID promising players of various skillsets over different formats and scenarios towards the beginning of their Pathway journey. Players will not necessarily attend every week, with sessions arranged to accommodate numbers, but also to give enough sessions to thoroughly observe the required skills at each level. Early Engagement Observations, whilst typically for U10-U12 cricketers, will be open to boys in U9 and down, but this must be judged sensibly by those enrolling them, to make sure they would be up to the required standard.
Observations will be taking place on the following dates for 2025/26:
North Yorkshire
Regional - Saturday 1st November & Sunday 9th November
Early Engagement - Sundays - 2nd November then 16th November to 14th December
East & Central Yorkshire
Regional - Sundays - 30th November & 7th December
Early Engagement - Saturdays - 8th November to 13th December
South Yorkshire
Regional - Saturdays & Sundays - 15th/16th November & 22nd/23rd November
Early Engagement - Saturdays & Sundays - 8th/9th November to 13th/14th December
West Yorkshire
Regional - Sundays & Wednesday nights - 26th November, 30th November, 3rd December & 7th December
Early Engagement - Saturdays - 8th November to 13th December
The exact dates and times of sessions that those registered will be invited to attend will be communicated closer to the time, once we are aware of the numbers wishing to attend.
Observation Registration Link
To sign your son up for Observations, please complete the link below:
https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90901028/Yorkshire-Regional-Cricket-Boys-Observation-Day-Sign-Up-2025-26The deadline for registrations for the 2025/26 programme is Sunday 19th October.
Cost of the Programme(s)
All Observations are completely free to attend throughout. For those selected onto either programme following this, there will be a cost of £275 to cover the full calendar year, and all boys selected from our observations will take part in both the winter and summer programmes with their team. This required cost is purely to sustain the programme, which must cover its costs. The programme cost will also include a complimentary YCCC Membership and kit for the boys to play in, but excludes the optional stay at our Ampleforth Festival, for those wishing to stay over. If any players wishing to attend and be considered are worried they would be unable to afford the programme, please contact us to discuss more. Since 2024, we have implemented a means-tested bespoke bursary programme to support any players in need. Whilst we need to run an economically sustainable programme, our firm commitment is that no-one will be prevented from accessing our programme due to cost.
Trialling at Other Counties
Both Regional and Early Engagement are part of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club Pathway. Players wishing to trial for Yorkshire through these programmes should NOT currently be engaged with the pathways of other counties simultaneously. This includes being part of an ongoing trials or observation process at another county. We must ask that all players wishing to be observed for our programme, that are presently engaged with another county in any way, withdraw from their programme before seeking to be observed for our own to avoid conflicts. This ensures opportunities are not unfairly taken away from other players by players who are seeking to gain an offer to go elsewhere. Vice versa, once engaged within our programme, we would ask that players are not registered with other pathways until communicated to us at an appropriate point for release. We are in continuing dialogue with other Pathways around this and check for multiple registrations prior to our observations. If you have any questions around this issue, please just ask.
If you have any questions at all around any of the above, please don't hesitate to ask. If your son is intending to be observed for our programme this coming year, please ensure you complete the above link, and we look forward to seeing him soon!
Kind regards
Jack Stockdale
Boys' Pathway Operations Manager
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