YORK Cricket Club secretary Nick Kay believes that the upcoming clash between Yorkshire and Lancashire could be “the biggest crowd we’ve had at York” as Clifton Park get set to host their first ever Roses clash.

Clifton Park will be hosting two One-Day matches next month for Yorkshire, with the Vikings set to take on Northamptonshire on Tuesday, August 2 and Lancashire on Thursday, August 4, with both games beginning at 11am as part of the Royal London Cup.

York have hosted Yorkshire before in 2019 and 2021, with this year’s games being the third time in four years that Yorkshire have travelled to York.

It will be the first time that York have hosted the Roses clash between Yorkshire and Lancashire, and the fourth first-team County fixture at Clifton Park.

Kay enthused that, in the three years they have been running Yorkshire games in York, this year’s match could draw the biggest crowd they’ve seen in that time.

“When the fixtures came out, we couldn’t believe we had that (Roses) game,” he enthused.

“It’s great from our perspective, it does show the trust Yorkshire have in us. It’s one of the longest rivalries in sporting history.

“I think the ticket sales will be very strong. I know from my perspective, dealing with hospitality, we could have sold our marquee out twice over.

“It’s going to be a great day, I think it’ll be the biggest crowd we’ve had at York in the three years we’ve been running it, let’s hope that Yorkshire win.”

There will be car parking available for over 1,000 cars at Clifton Park that will cost £10 per car.

Tickets for the games are available on Yorkshire’s website, with adult tickets priced at £18, senior tickets at £12 and junior tickets costing £5.

Ticket purchasing is available here.

“It’s not a big money making exercise for the club, there’s a lot of cost that goes into getting the ground set up and, to be fair to Yorkshire, they’re very generous and help us with the cost of the stand.

“Traffic management, security, toilet facilities, it’s quite a large expense. If we make a few quid then brilliant, we certainly won’t lose money, Yorkshire have guaranteed they’d always support us if that were the case.

“From our perspective it’s more about getting the club on the map and doing the county proud.”

“The last two times, we’ve had a 2,000 seat temporary stand on the ground, but we’ve had to beef that up to 2,500 off the back of pre-sales.

“We’re going to put more seating around the ground, but we strongly advise spectators who want to, to bring their own chairs.

“If we were to have 4,000 people in the ground, I’d be absolutely delighted. Anything more than that would be tremendous.

“Those numbers would be a record for our club in the last two or three years.”

An extra stop will be implemented on the Rawcliffe park and ride bus route for people to travel to the game.

Fans will also be able to walk through Museum Garden to attend.

“I think now that we’re on the home straight, it’s around this time I really do get quite excited,” insisted Kay.

“I’ve always enjoyed the buzz of thousands of people in the ground watching cricket at York.

“I’m really excited and can’t wait for it to get going.”