1997– : Women's County Championship
Yorkshire joined the Women's County Championship for its inaugural season in 1997, and won five of the first six titles, their run only interrupted by East Midlands in 1999. [4] Key for Yorkshire in this period were players such as Kathryn Leng and Melissa Reynard. [5] Soon after this successful period, however, Yorkshire fell away and were relegated in 2005, and then again in 2007, ending up in Division 3. [6] Their return was swift, however, as they were promoted twice, in 2008 and 2009, including an unbeaten season in Division Two. [7]
Ever since, Yorkshire have played in Division One of the Championship, winning the title once more, in 2015. Yorkshire topped Division One with 6 wins from 8 games, and bowler Katie Levick was the second-highest wicket-taker in the division, with 20 at an average of just 9.65. [8] [9] Yorkshire also recorded three 2nd place finishes in a row, between 2017 and 2019. [10]
Yorkshire have also competed in the Women's Twenty20 Cup since 2009. In 2010, they reached the Final but lost to Berkshire by 46 runs. [11] In the following two seasons, Yorkshire reached the semi-finals, but lost to Berkshire again in 2011 and to Sussex in 2012. [12] [13] Yorkshire came close to winning the title again in 2015, finishing the season joint on point with winners Sussex, but with a marginally worse Net Run Rate. [14] Yorkshire struggled over following seasons, and were relegated in 2018 before finishing 4th in Division Two in 2019. [15] In 2021, they competed in the North Group of the Twenty20 Cup, finishing 4th with two wins and six matches abandoned due to rain. [16] They reached the Group 1 final in the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Cup, but lost to Lancashire. [17] In the 2023 Women's Twenty20 Cup, after all of their initial group stage matches were rained-off, they won one of two matches on a group finals day. [18] In 2024, the side finished 3rd in their group in the Twenty20 Cup and 4th in their group in the new ECB Women's County One-Day tournament. [19] [20]
In 2019, they played in Division One of the final season of the Women's County Championship, and have since competed in the Women's Twenty20 Cup. [21] Yorkshire have contributed some players to making up a North Representative XI, and they were partnered with the regional side Northern Diamonds. [22] [23]
