Yorkshire Cricket Club launches LGBTQ+ supporters group

Yorkshire Cricket Club said it wanted to make Headingley 'a welcoming place for all'

Yorkshire Cricket Club has launched a LGBTQ+ supporters group in an effort to increase participation in the sport.

Yorkshire & Proud is open to members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies, the club said.

The group's founder, Becca Gerrard, said it was "an important step towards ensuring Headingley is a welcoming place for all".

Yorkshire said it was also supporting the establishment of the first LGBTQ+ cricket club in Leeds.

The launch of Yorkshire & Proud was timed to coincide with the start of Pride month on 1 June.

The group is being supported by Out 4 Cricket, an organisation which helps cricket teams around the UK to make the sport more inclusive for people from the LGBTQ+ community.

Lachlan Smith, founder of Out 4 Cricket and the Birmingham Unicorns, thought to be only the world's second LGBTQ+ cricket club, said: "Supporting Yorkshire as they develop inclusive policies and practices at the club has been incredibly important, and it is great to see the supporter's group be established."

Stephen Vaughan, Yorkshire's chief executive officer, said the club "hopes to provide the opportunity for more people from a range of different backgrounds to come together and share in their love of cricket".

The club said it would "taking steps to celebrate Pride" during a T20 double header at Headingley on 4 June, when Yorkshire Vikings play Derbyshire Falcons followed by the Northern Diamonds facing the Southern Vipers.

Yorkshire said this week it would undertake a "rigorous audit" with the National Centre for Diversity to improve its equality and inclusion practices.

It comes after the club earlier this year admitted failing to act over racist and discriminatory language after an England and Wales Cricket Board investigation into allegations made by former player Azeem Rafiq.