By JMB
January 11 2007

It’s time for Yorkshire fans to take solace in the knowledge that there is not much left that can go wrong this winter. Bar a freak flood that washes the ground away (which looking out of my window at the weather isn’t inconceivable) Yorkshire County Cricket Club appears to have got rid... of all of its demons in one ‘off season horriblis’ (as the Queen would say).

All sports clubs have their problems and behind the scenes rows, yet in Yorkshire we seem destined to always have our infighting in full public view. Far from being dispirited by this I think the club is nearing a position where it has cleansed itself of the virus of acrimony that has infested Headingley for too long. Most clubs don’t get to out all of their problems in the space of a few months. It’s been a winter of bleeding, but we all know blood dries, heals and the pain subsides.

The Adams, Byas and McGrath bumper winter fun pack has been opened, played with and now lies in the corner of the room with all of the other presents we’re already bored with. The press, both national and local, have focussed on everything that is negative about the club. They have forgotten the intense pride that Yorkshire people have in their cricket team. They have lost sight of the plans the Board have for the future of cricket at Headingley. In the long-term I am sure Yorkshire fans will look back at the winter of 2006/7 as the moment when things started to go right, both on and off the field.

The current state of flux should not be seen as an opportunity for Yorkshire people to dwell on how poorly the cricket club has operated in the past. We should treat recent events as a watershed. There are so many reasons why Yorkshire County Cricket Club is the best club side to support in the world.

It is true that there currently is no captain or coach, yet this can be put right. Let us move ourselves forwards a couple of months. We will have a new Director of Professional cricket that has taken control of the first team and is working with a captain who is eager to impress. We will have a squad of players who are keen to prove their detractors wrong. We will have a side that mixes experience with youth, of which there is both quantity and quality at the club. Younus Khan will arrive in the county, desperate to succeed and eager to play for Yorkshire, unlike recent departees.

And above all of that we get a new purged Yorkshire. One that can move forward, public and team together, wearing the county’s white rose with pride - a club that has rid itself of the internal politics which has been a noose around its neck for decades.

It's a bumpy ride but it can all come together.

The future’s bright, the future’s Yorkshire!

Let's start thinking positively again - enter the reasons why we can look forward as a club in the message board below...