The annual match between Yorkshire and Durham at the Scarborough Cricket Festival has had to be scrapped next year because of Durham's fixture congestion.

The festival game, for the Northern Electric Trophy, would have been played on Tuesday, August 29, but Durham are due to meet Hampshire at Riverside on that date in the CGU National League.

Northern Electric have agreed instead to sponsor the second day of Yorkshire's PPP healthcare Championship match against champions Surrey at North Marine Road starting on August 30.

Durham's unavailability means the festival - starting with a women's match on August 28 and ending with Yorkshire's CGU game with Sussex on Sunday, September 3 - will be pruned by a further day.

This will not unduly worry the Scarborough club following the outstanding success of last year's shorter festival which reverted to its traditional date of late August early September.

Glorious weather helped boost total attendances to 20,461 which resulted in a profit on the festival of over £50,000 compared to £23,886 the previous year.

Over 16,000 turned up at North Marine Road in July for the Yorkshire matches and other events for the festival's 150th anniversary, and about 37,000 watched cricket on the ground.

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