It's Kent first as Yorkshire bid to bounce straight back

The White Rose county begin their quest to bounce back to the top tier of English cricket on Thursday, April 5 against Rob Key’s side, who they also face at Canterbury at the back end of the month.

The two fixtures against Kent come either side of a three-day friendly against Leeds-Bradford University and another Championship match against Essex at Headingley.

The 2012 county fixture list, announced today, also sees Yorkshire almost certainly playing four of their 16 Championship matches on outgrounds.

Although not confirmed yet, Hampshire are likely to travel to Scarborough on May 16 before Gloucestershire visit the North Marine Road venue during Festival week, which kicks off with a 40-over match against Warwickshire on August 27.

The dates for the Scarborough Festival have been confirmed.

Gillespie and captain Andrew Gale also take their side to face Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay on June 6 and Derbyshire at Chesterfield on July 18, with a 40-over clash against the same opponents coming immediately after the latter fixture.

Yorkshire will hopefully be celebrating Championship promotion against Essex at Chelmsford, where they go during the final week of the season (September 11-14).

There are no obvious problems with the 2012 list, such as the three back-to-back away games they faced against Lancashire, Somerset and Sussex in the space of 15 days last season.

They were then only given one day in between to prepare for the start of the Friends Life Twenty20 campaign, whereas next season it will be five days between the end of the Colwyn Bay match and the 20-over opener against Durham at Headingley on June 15.

The only two Roses clashes of the summer come in the form of Twenty20 encounters, with the Headingley fixture on June 29 and the Old Trafford return – under lights – a week later.

One thing that will frustrate Yorkshire and their supporters is the lack of a home Championship match between June 2 and August 15, while there is only one day of cricket at Headingley in the month of July.

Meanwhile, new coaches Paul Farbrace and Richard Damms begin work at Headingley on Thursday.

YORKSHIRE 2012 FIXTURES

APRIL

Thu 5: Kent – Headingley (LVCC 2)

Fri 13: Leeds-Bradford – Headingley (UNI)

Thu 19: Essex – Headingley (LVCC 2)

Thu 26: Kent – Canterbury (LVCC 2)

MAY

Wed 2: Leicestershire – Headingley (LVCC 2)

Sun 6: Kent – Headingley (CB40)

Wed 9: Gloucestershire – Bristol (LVCC 2)

Wed 16: Hampshire – TBC (LVCC 2)

Sun 20: Derbyshire – TBC (CB40)

Thu 24: Sussex – Hove (CB40, floodlit)

Sun 27: Unicorns – TBC (CB40)

Wed 30: Northamptonshire – Headingley (LVCC 2)

JUNE

Sun 3: Northamptonshire – Headingley (CB40)

Wed 6: Glamorgan – Colwyn Bay (LVCC 2)

Fri 15: Durham – Headingley (FLT20)

Sun 17: Leicestershire – Headingley (FLT20)

Mon 18: Derbyshire – Derby (FLT20, floodlit)

Fri 22: Durham – Emirates Durham ICG (FLT20)

Sun 24: Nottinghamshire – Scarborough (FLT20)

Wed 27: Leicestershire – Grace Road (FLT20)

Fri 29: Lancashire – Headingley (FLT20)

JULY

Thu 5: Nottinghamshire – Trent Bridge (FLT20, floodlit)

Fri 6: Lancashire – Old Trafford (FLT20, floodlit)

Sun 8: Derbyshire – Headingley (FLT20)

Wed 11: Hampshire – Rose Bowl (LVCC 2)

Wed 18: Derbyshire – Chesterfield (LVCC 2)

Sun 22: Derbyshire – Chesterfield (CB40)

Fri 27: Leicestershire – Grace Road (LVCC 2)

AUGUST

Wed 1: Northamptonshire – Northampton (LVCC 2)

Tue 7: Warwickshire – Edgbaston (CB40, floodlit)

Thu 9: Northamptonshire – Northampton (CB40, floodlit)

Sun 12: Unicorns – TBC (CB40)

Wed 15: Derbyshire – Headingley (LVCC 2)

Sun 19: Sussex – Headingley (CB40)

Wed 22: Kent – Canterbury (CB40, floodlit)

Mon 27: Warwickshire – Scarborough (CB40)

Tue 28: Gloucestershire – Scarborough (LVCC 2)

SEPTEMBER

Tue 4: Glamorgan – Headingley (LVCC 2)

Tue 11: Essex – Chelmsford (LVCC 2)

Key – LVCC 2: LV= County Championship Division Two; CB40: Clydesdale Bank 40; FLT20: Friends Life Twenty20; UNI: University