Yorkshire will open their 2009 County Championship title quest against reigning champions Durham at Chester-le-Street.

The county fixtures were announced by the ECB yesterday, and the Tykes have been given the toughest test possible on Wednesday, April 22.

“Fixtures in any sport always seem to throw up interesting games and it will be the second season on the bounce that we have played them first,” said new captain Anthony McGrath.

Last season Yorkshire lost a Friends Provident Trophy tie in the North East, and McGrath continued: “It will be a very tough game to play in the early season, especially with their barrage of seamers.”

Yorkshire will also travel to play Sussex at Hove in September, a fixture they have faced in the final month of the campaign for three consecutive years.

The two Roses fixtures against Lancashire will take place within the space of 22 days through the end of July and August. The first will be at Old Trafford on Friday, July 31.

“That is always the first fixture I look for,” continued McGrath. “The Roses games are always really special, and even more so as a captain.

“They will both be played at a very important stage of the season. August is always a defining month.”

There is a change in the way the Twenty20 Cup will be staged. It begins earlier than usual, on Monday, May 25, and there will be three LV Division One fixtures sandwiched in between the first six North Group games and the final four.

“Every season we are supposed to be reducing the amount of cricket played but we just end up playing more,” commented McGrath.

“Six Twenty20’s, three back-to-back Championship games and then four more Twenty20s will be very gruelling.”

The reason for this is staging of the World Twenty20 Championship in England throughout the month of June.

“I don’t quite know how the ECB want to work it,” continued Bradford-born McGrath. “But it will certainly be very difficult from a cricketing point of view. With the weight of fixtures, we will have to have a bit of luck with injury.

“We would prefer each competition to have its own identity rather than be mixed up like it has been.”

Despite his dismay at the Twenty20 scheduling, McGrath admits that he can now start to really get excited about the new season.

“Everybody has been eagerly awaiting the release of the new fixtures for a month or so now, and looking through them certainly does give you that cricket buzz.”

Yorkshire will play Notting-hamshire and Warwickshire in the Championship at Scarborough in July and August, while they will also face Durham and Sussex in the Pro40 League at North Marine Road.

  • Full 2009 fixture-list in the Cricket section