Countdown To The Roses Begins!
Yorkshire meet Lancashire this week in what will be there first of 3 meetings this season. There has been a long rivalry between these two and to get one over on the opposition so early in the season will give which ever team is the victory, a huge boost!
BBC Sport Previews The Game
In the middle of the last century, Old Trafford and Headingley would close their gates at noon on a Roses crowd, with the place packed to the rafters.
For instance, nearly 80,000 people watched Lancashire host Yorkshire in 1926, celebrating a rivalry between the red rose and the white that goes back to the middle ages.
Yorkshire expect about 3,000 this week for the 50th Roses Championship clash at their Leeds HQ.
But Roses matches still stand out on the county calendar - that is double their usual turnout.
To mark the occasion, Headingley is hosting an exhibition of scorecards from the previous 49 matches and memorabilia connected to the Roses rivalry.
"These are two enormous clubs with tradition and history - it's like Manchester City against Man Utd," Yorkshire director of cricket David Byas tells BBC Sport.
Three years after their last four-day encounter, the rivalry is resumed following Lancashire's surprise relegation to Championship Division Two last season.
But Byas denies that the contest will be devalued and, with vital promotion points on offer, this match could have more bite than others in recent history.
"If you look at the stats, Lancashire and Yorkshire and in the second division but I'd suggest there's more to the story," says Byas.
"We're playing some decent cricket and I'm sure [Lancashire coach] Mike Watkinson would say the same.
"There isn't a huge difference and it's a tough school, Division Two."
There was an outcry when Byas, Yorkshire's Championship-winning captain in 2001, crossed the Pennines to play his last season with a red rose on his batting helmet.
He believes much of the rivalry is a creation of the media and is down-to-earth as he prepares his charges for this week's clash.
"I'm sure 50 years ago there was more hanging on a Roses match but whether it's Lancashire or Northamptonshire it's a fixture we want to do well in," he claims.
"You can talk tradition 'til the cows come home but we're looking to make our own history.
"We want to be the best northern club but it's the same when we play Durham - they're always hard-fought matches."
