YORKSHIRE make a Good Friday start to their 2003 season when Northamptonshire visit Headingley on April 18 for the Frizzell County Championship curtain-raiser.

And club chairman Geoff Cope has already said that Yorkshire's top priority next summer will be to win back their place in Division One at the first time of asking.

Yorkshire were doubly embarrassed this year when they were not only relegated but also never managed to lift themselves off the bottom rung of the table.

The silver lining to their season was lifting the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy and they begin their defence of the title on May 7 when they take on Cambridgeshire at March.

The new 20-overs competition, which is aimed at appealing to younger fans, sees Yorkshire start with a home game against Derbyshire on Saturday, June 14, and over the following ten days they will also visit Leicestershire and Lancashire and entertain Durham and Nottinghamshire.

The Roses encounter will probably be the only one of the season because the two old rivals are now in different divisions in both the Championship and the National League.

England play Zimbabwe in a one-day international at Headingley on Tuesday, July 1, and the ground stages the Test between England and South Africa, starting on August 21.

Yorkshire Fixtures 2003

April

Fri 18 Northants (Headingley) CC.

Sun 27 Warwicks (Edgbaston) NL.

Wed 30 Hampshire (Southampton) CC.

May

Mon 5 Essex (Headingley) NL.

Wed 7 Cambridgeshire (March) CG.

Fri 9 Derbyshire (Headingley) CC.

Wed 14 Northants (Northampton) CC.

Sun 18 Leicestershire (Leicester) NL.

Wed 21 Glamorgan (Headingley) CC.

Sun 25 Glamorgan (Headingley) NL.

Fri 30 Durham (Headingley) CC.

June

Wed 4 Bfd/Leeds UCCE (Bradford) F.

Sun 8 Kent (Tunbridge Wells) NL.

Sat 14 Derbyshire (Headingley) 20.

Mon 16 Leicestershire (Leicester) 20.

Thu 19 Lancashire (Old Trafford) 20.

Fri 20 Durham (Headingley) 20.

Sun 22 Leics (Headingley) NL.

Tue 24 Notts (Headingley) 20.

Fri 27 Somerset (Taunton) CC.

July

Tue 1 England v Zimbabwe (Headingley) OD.

Wed 2 Derbyshire (Derby) CC.

Sun 6 Surrey (The Oval) NL.

Wed 9 India A (Headingley) TOU.

Tue 15 Durham (Riverside) CC.

Wed 23 Hampshire (Scarborough) CC.

Sun 27 Kent (Scarborough) NL.

Wed 30 Gloucs (Cheltenham) CC.

August

Sun 3 Gloucs (Cheltenham) NL.

Wed 6 Warwicks (Headingley) NL.

Wed 13 Worcs (Scarborough) CC.

Sun 17 Worcs (Scarborough) NL.

Thu 21 England v South Africa (Headingley) TM.

Sun 24 Glamorgan (Colwyn Bay) NL.

Mon 25 Glamorgan (Colwyn Bay) CC.

Sun 31 Surrey (Headingley) NL.

September

Wed 3 Somerset (Headingley) CC.

Sun 7 Worcs (Worcester) NL.

Wed 10 Essex (Chelmsford) NL.

Fri 12 Worcs (Worcester) CC.

Wed 17 Gloucs (Headingley) CC.

Sun 21 Gloucs (Headingley) NL.

Key: CC Championship, NL National League, CG Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy 3rd round; F friendly (three days), 20 Overs competition, OD One-Day International, TOU Tourist match, TM Fourth Test.

Updated: 12:43 Wednesday, November 13, 2002