YORKSHIRE’S long-term hopes of staging international cricket at Headingley have been handed a major boost by Leeds City Council.

The council’s planning committee yesterday agreed to pass the final decision on the £38m redevelopment plans for the stadium to their chief planning officer.

Whilst this means that Yorkshire and Leeds Rhinos Rugby, who are joint partners in this venture, have not received the green light just yet, it is a formality that they will.

It was initially hoped that demolition work on the rugby side would start this month ahead of the new Super League season.

But problems surrounding planning permission and the sale of nearby land to fund the scheme surfaced in November. Of the £38m, £18m still needs to be found.

From Yorkshire’s point of view, they need the Main Stand linking both the cricket and rugby grounds, otherwise known as the Football Stand, to be completed by 2019 if they are to host Cricket World Cup matches that summer.

The Ashes Test, also inked in for 2019, will remain at Headingley whatever happens.

But work must now start by September in order for Yorkshire and the ECB to press ahead with allocation of international matches beyond that.

Yorkshire and the Rhinos released a joint statement, saying: “The committee has approved the recommendation to defer and delegate the detail of the decision to the planning officers.

“Both clubs look forward to finalising the details of the decision as soon as possible.

“The boards of both clubs have worked tirelessly together for over two years and are committed to continue to work together with the support of Leeds City Council to deliver this scheme which, once complete, will underpin Test Match Cricket at Headingley and upgrade the rugby side of the stadium.”

Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur said: “We remain confident that we can deliver the re-development for the stadium and look forward to working with partners to make this possible and retain our status in international cricket.”

Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington added: “We would like to thank Leeds City Council for their efforts during this planning application process.

“This was another crucial step for us.

“We believe a funding mechanism can be found to realise the vision for the stadium.”

As well as the Ashes and four ICC World Cup matches, Yorkshire are also scheduled to host a one-day international between England and Pakistan in 2019.