Yorkshire to get Tier 1 women's team in 2026

Yorkshire will be granted a Tier 1 women's team in 2026 following a change of plan from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

In April, eight counties were given Tier 1 status from 2025, with Yorkshire and Glamorgan initially told to wait until 2027.

The Headingley club said they were “surprised and disappointed” and made a case to the ECB, which has agreed to bring plans forward.

Glamorgan will still become a Tier 1 team in 2027.

A three-tiered county structure will replace the current regional model from next year in an ECB plan to increase investment in women’s domestic cricket to £19m per annum by 2027.

When the Tier 1 counties were announced, seven mirrored the existing regional teams. Although Headingley is currently the base for Northern Diamonds, Yorkshire missed out in favour of Durham.

At the time, ECB chief executive Richard Gould said Yorkshire were not being "punished for past sins" following the lengthy racism scandal at the club.

Now, the ECB says the decision to confirm 2026 as the season when Yorkshire will join Tier 1 "has been taken to provide greater certainty about the introduction timeline for the club and the existing women’s professional playing group".

Still, a number of existing Diamonds players, who are mostly based in and near Leeds, face at least a year of upheaval if they are signed by other counties.

ECB director of women's professional game Beth Barrett-Wild said: "Yorkshire's desire to be part of Tier 1 as soon as possible is clear, and we believe it's the best decision for them, the women's game, and most importantly for the players as they enter a phase of contract negotiation, to provide as much certainty as we can about the introduction timeline for both Yorkshire and Glamorgan.

"We look forward to getting the new three-tiered structure underway next summer, and setting in motion the next exciting stage of women's professional domestic cricket."