‘Yorkshire are in Europe, get your passport’.

That was the message I got on the day this season’s fixtures were announced.

As my mind wandered to a sunny beach in Greece, my boss quickly added “you are going to Schiedam near Rotterdam for the Clydesdale Bank 40 match with Holland”.

Not so glamorous perhaps. But, in the Tykes’ quest for a first piece of major silverware since 2002, tomorrow’s European away day is now a vital fixture.

Thursday’s loss to Gloucestershire may have been the county’s first defeat in the competition but, because only the top side in each group is guaranteed a semi-final spot, they cannot afford too many more slip-ups.

“I suppose it is frustrating that we have played six games, won five, but are not clear at the top of our section,” admitted director of cricket Martyn Moxon.

The clash, being held at the home of Excelsior Cricket Club, begins a busy period for Yorkshire, who will play on five of the next seven days after the 40-over contest.

Although dealing with a congested fixture-list is something which is common in the modern game, this trip comes at a particularly testing time.

Less than 48 hours after the game finishes, the Tykes are due to start day one of their LV= County Champion-ship match against title rivals Nottinghamshire at Headingley.

It means they will leave straight away at the close of play before boarding a night ferry to Hull, where they will arrive on Monday morning.

Moxon, perhaps rightly so, is not happy about it at all: “It is just a nonsense fixture-list and a crazy situation. Hopefully something will happen next year to try and stop this sort of thing happening.”

The Tykes should at least have pace bowler Ajmal Shahzad available for the long trip, as England want him to play to prove his fitness ahead of the second Test with Pakistan.

Preparing him and the side for this daunting schedule will certainly be a challenge. Equal, perhaps, to finding the stadium in Schiedam at all. Its no-show on Google maps is quite worrying!