Salary cuts at Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Lockdown is continuing to impact Yorkshire County Cricket Club, with it’s employees having agreed up to 20% in salary reductions due to the impact of COVID-19.

These reductions, which will come into force from 1 June, will affect players and staff across the club, Yorkshire Cricket Board, Yorkshire Cricket Foundation and Pro Coach.

It follows the announcement on 6 April about a large proportion of staff being placed on furlough to ease the financial burden of the virus.

In a statement, Mark Arthur, the club’s chief executive, said: “We do not take decisions such as these lightly, but now is the time to take drastic steps.

“The staff and players were consulted earlier this week and their reaction to the news has been fantastic.

“Although these are unprecedented times, as a collective we are doing everything that we can to steer Yorkshire Cricket through these uncharted waters.

“Our focus as custodians of this great club is to ensure we guide it through such challenges, and we acknowledge the sacrifices that are required to achieve this.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our members for their patience and considerable understanding.

“We are in regular contact with the England and Wales Cricket Board who are working hard to find ways of staging cricket in a safe environment this summer.

“When we receive confirmation of what the cricket schedule will look like, we will be in contact with members and ticket buyers.”

It’s certain that the impact of Covid-19 on the county cricket landscape could be severe, with the current season being postponed until at least the 1st July. Arthur told us in March that if there was no cricket until the end of May or longer than it would “start to really hurt” the club and become a serious challenge.