YORKSHIRE CCC have slashed pay-at-the-gate admission prices for seniors following complaints at the swingeing increases which were imposed before the start of the season.

The next home match at Headingley is the Roses clash, which starts a week today, and turnstile prices for pensioners will drop from £15 per day to £10.

But that is still £4 per day more than seniors were asked to pay last year for a day's cricket.

The decision to lower the charges was taken by new chief executive Stewart Regan in the wake of howls of protest from pensioners who have attended the opening games of the season.

The reason for the large increase was that Yorkshire no longer offer any concession to retired supporters who become full members of the club and it was also decided to scrap the reduction on the gate.

But Regan said: "I have discussed the whole area of senior citizen admission prices with the Members' Committee and they were very keen to see this decision reversed.

"I have acknowledged that the club were wrong to levy such a large increase on such an important group of supporters at a time when we are keen to attract more people into our stadium.

"In my experience, both in business and in sport, pensioners are always given a concession and Yorkshire must come into line.

"Given our current financial position, however, we cannot hold the prices at last year's level and while I acknowledge that £10 per day is still a sizeable spend for a pensioner to come to watch cricket I would like to point out that the cost of full membership is only £125 a year and covers all home Championship games, including Scarborough, plus one-day C&G Trophy games.

"This works out at just over £3 a day which is fantastic value when compared to the cost of watching other professional sport.

"I apologise to those senior citizens who have been put off watching Yorkshire in recent weeks because of the price. I hope this decision will encourage them to come back and support us and I look forward to seeing them on our terraces at the Roses match."

Yorkshire were today travelling by coach to Canterbury ahead of tomorrow's Championship match against Kent with South African Deon Kruis, fit again after suffering a torn calf muscle, replacing Matthew Hoggard, who is now back in the England camp.

Yorkshire from: Wood, Sayers, McGrath, Lumb, Lehmann, White, Dawson, Guy, Bresnan, Gillespie, Kruis, Blain.

Updated: 10:08 Tuesday, May 09, 2006