BATSMEN watch out – the redevelopment at Emerald Headingley may just make things a bit harder to score runs.

Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur admits he would not be surprised to see a change in the atmospherics, pushing things further into the favour of pace bowlers in similar fashion to what happened at Trent Bridge when they built the Radcliffe Road Stand in 1997/98.

Arthur was in the same role at Nottinghamshire when that construction took place.

He said: "We saw a change in the atmospherics at Trent Bridge with swing bowling and it could happen here. Who knows?

"It wouldn't surprise me if there was even more swing at Emerald Headingley as a result of the new stand going up in 2019. As for this season, it could also change with nothing there.

"But I would imagine you'll start to see things escalate with the stand going up halfway through the season. It will probably end up being roughly the same size as the old stand during the course of the season."

Arthur is delighted with the progress being made on the development of the new stand to replace the old Football Stand, which was demolished earlier this winter.

He said: "With the redevelopment, everything is on schedule. It's absolutely spot on.

"We're convinced it will all be finished in plenty of time prior to the 2019 World Cup.

"While we didn't start knocking things down until the end of last season, the preparation was going on for months beforehand.

"Even now, 14 or 15 months before completion, we're finalising the orders for all the finishings inside the building. That's how far ahead Caddick Construction work.

"We keep everybody informed as to where we are. Steve Elworthy is running things for the ICC. We know where we are.

"Paul Caddick, who is chairman of Leeds Rugby, has pulled his A team in on this one. Seeing their South Stand go up day by day, it makes such a huge difference to what's happening.

"I attend, with my colleagues, site meetings and such and we are kept informed on a weekly basis as to how things are going."

As alluded to earlier, Arthur is no stranger to such work, having been involved with Notts in the late 1990s.

He said:"Lots of grounds have been through redevelopment. Lord's experienced it recently and I experienced it when we built the Radcliffe Road Stand at Trent Bridge in 1997/98.

"We had just 44 weeks to put that up between Test matches. You look at it now and say 'Wow, only 44 weeks?' If you're organised, the construction companies tend to deliver."

Headingley has taken on a completely different look during the last few months, with plenty more to take place before the start of the county season in April.

By that time, the neighbouring Leeds Rhinos will have started their Super League campaign and played three home games on site.

"They will also continue to play rugby throughout (the redevelopment)," said Arthur.

"Carnegie are playing (union) at the moment. The Rhinos will play a couple of matches at Elland Road and there is a temporary stand going up for the rugby where the Football Stand was.

"They will bring the new South Stand into play at the same time they return here. It's a phenomenal feat of construction."

* In association with Yorkshire CCC