Yorkshire next year make their earliest one-day start to a season when they open their programme with a Benson & Hedges Cup Group match against Durham at Chester le Street on Saturday, April 15.

The season stretches for a full five months and concludes with a PPP healthcare Championship match with Hampshire at Southampton, starting on September 13.

After last summer's experiment with the B&H Super Cup in which only the top eight counties from the previous years' championship table competed, it's back to something like the old format with the 18 first class counties being divided into three groups and each battling for places in the quarter final knockout stages.

Yorkshire play all five of their group games over a nine day period from mid-April before any of the other competitions get under way.

Under the season's new format, Yorkshire are one of only five counties to have earned Division One status in both the championship and the CGU National League and it is in that competition that they will pay their first ever visit to Arundel to take on Sussex on July 16.

Yorkshire have tried to address complaints that too little championship cricket is played over weekends and the club's chief executive Chris Hassell, says he is pleased that they have been able to arrange three matches at Headingley with Friday starts, including the Roses clash beginning on July 28.

With possible redevelopment work taking place at Headingley in the latter part of the season, the last match scheduled there is the fourth Test between England and the West Indies which starts on August 17.

If the Yorkshire Cricket Board XI beat the winners of the NatWest Trophy first round game between Hampshire CB and Huntingdonshire CB, they will play Yorkshire's first team in a third round tie which will be staged at Harrogate's St George's Road ground on June 21.

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