Picture by YCCC. Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, fast bowler Matthew Firbank as he signs his maiden professional contract at Headingley, and James Martin, the county’s head of the performance pathway.
Gavin Hamilton is just over a year into his job as Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket – 14 months to be precise – and the former international all-rounder says he is very happy with the progression made in that time.
Hamilton, the former White Rose star who played for both Scotland and England, started work as the head of the county’s cricket department at the beginning of last November.
He leads the way for both the men’s and women’s teams, working alongside head coaches Anthony McGrath and Rich Pyrah respectively.
Both teams had a progressive summer in 2026, the women more obviously so given they won the Tier 2 50-over Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
For McGrath and co, the most recent summer was seen more as a stepping stone.
They finished seventh in the Rothesay County Championship, going unbeaten through the second half of the campaign following a slow start, and reached the semi-finals of the One-Day Cup.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Dom Bess impressively captained Yorkshire as they reached the semi-finals of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
With the New Year upon us, there is plenty of optimism from Hamilton.
“There was a lot going on at the club when I first came in, as you can imagine,” he said. “For the first four or five months, my job wasn’t massively cricket related. It was very much behind the scenes.
“‘Let’s get the club in order, let’s build the foundations so that we can start thinking about cricket conversations’.
“But having Anthony and Rich, two people I’ve known for a long, long time and trust, that played a huge part in settling things. I knew I could let them make their own cricketing decisions for that first four or five months.
“It was a challenging winter, but come the end of pre-season I was confident that we were in a good place to compete with both teams. That was peace of mind.
“For the men, it was a slow start to the season, shall we say. But we’ll put that down to a little bit of the unknown.
Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Allrounders George Hill and Matthew Revis were exceptional in last season’s Rothesay County Championship.
“Once we got to Scarborough in June, I could just sense a huge mindset shift with the way we went about our business. I just knew that we would have a strong end to the summer. And we did. I was really happy with that.
“I’m confident we can build on that now. You know mine and Anthony’s thoughts on this.
“We’ll challenge the players, we’ll challenge all members of staff to compete in every single game. That’s all we ask.
“And we’ve got a great set of lads that listen, they get it, they’re buying into our way of thinking.
“It’s a big shift. No matter how you look at it, when you change the head coach, you change the director of cricket, new bowling coach, new batting coach, it’s a big shift in the way they’re going to have to listen and how they go about the business.
“In terms of the women, they just had a brilliant year.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire’s women celebrate with the Metro Bank One-Day Cup 2 trophy after victory over Glamorgan in September.
“They played well all the way through, but the back six-to-eight weeks, they were dominating games and really winning how good teams win – just absolutely putting game situations to bed.
“We know it’s a step up with what’s coming up, but hopefully they can show signs of building on that.
“And, I would say more importantly, the club in general is in a far better place structurally.
“There’s a real feel-good factor around the environment.
“Myself Rich and Mags are huge on that, not just the environment within the teams but the environment within the club.
“We all play our part to make it a better place to work, and we’re in a great place.”