Chairman for Yorkshire Steve Denison has expressed the shortfall of funding could see Headingley losing its status after the deal of £4m (INR 325,852357) deal was withdrawn over the shared stand with Rugby stadium which is adjacent to the ground.
The reports suggested the Leeds’ city council offer was withdrawn by owing to the political pressure as the authority is facing around 2,000 job losses.
“Discussions are ongoing all the time formally and informally [with the council] to try and find a solution because it is bonkers if the city, county and the club are running the risk of losing international status,” Denison was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.
Denison further suggested there is a real urgency to meet the requirements and it’s not going to be an easy task as Headingley has hosted Test cricket since 1899.
“There is no guarantee we would be able to host one of the new T20 teams as we haven’t got a stadium up to scratch. It does look quite gloomy but nobody is giving up. We are going to keep going but it is hard work,” Denison said.
The reports suggested Yorkshire won’t be able to host longer version of the game after 2020 if the stand would not get completed on time.
“The Ashes Test at Headingley will happen in 2019 anyway as it is not predicated on anything. But the World Cup games are predicated on us finishing that stand, so if we want to get it done by then we have to be cracking on by the end of this cricket season,” Denison added.
Headingley is also scheduled to host four matches of the World Cup 2019.
It has been estimated the club required £17m (INR 138,42,10830) to complete the work on a stand which is also taken care of by Leeds’ Rhinos Rugby Club.
“That is only a matter of weeks away in construction terms plus there will be a substantial amount of preparatory work that has to be done before bulldozers move in and knock down the existing stand. It is why everybody is working really hard to find a solution,” Denison revealed.
As Yorkshire is having £25m of debt, Denison expressed they are not going to take any risk following the situations they are facing at the moment.
“The last thing we want to do is mortgage the future at all costs. Having a club that can sustain itself is the most important thing. We are not going to risk that because of the situation we find ourselves in right now,” Denison concluded.
However, the reasonable talks between the Leeds City Council and Yorkshire authorities might brighten the chances of Headingley to continue as hosting the Test cricket after reaching to a certain agreement.