Yorkshire County Cricket Club has moved to broaden the expertise on its board, announcing the proposed appointments of three new non-executive directors as it embarks on a ten-year strategy to return the county to the top of the domestic game.

Former Club Captain Steven Patterson will be joined by Karen Birch, Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Leeds, and hospitality leader Kate Nicholls OBE, who currently chairs UKHospitality. All three are set to serve initial three-year terms, subject to confirmation by members at the Club's next AGM.

Patterson spent his entire playing career at Yorkshire, winning back-to-back County Championships in 2014 and 2015 and captaining the side from 2018 to 2022. Since retiring in 2022 he has built a career in property development and investment.

Birch, previously executive dean of the Faculty of Biological Sciences at Leeds, brings academic and strategic leadership experience, having researched the effects of exercise on women's health across the lifespan. Nicholls, meanwhile, steered UKHospitality through the pandemic, Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis as its chief executive, and holds a string of other public and industry roles, from the Institute of Licensing to the government's Visitor Economy and Hospitality Councils.

Colin Graves CBE, chair of Yorkshire Cricket, said the Club was "in an important period of transformation" and wanted a board equipped to both support and challenge the executive team. He described the incoming trio as bringing "a diverse blend of first-class experience" spanning elite sport, business, government relations and Yorkshire's civic life.

The appointments coincide with the launch of Chasing Glory, the Club's new ten-year strategy, which aims to strengthen the player pathway, secure Headingley's future as the home of international cricket in the North, and build teams capable of winning trophies consistently.

For Patterson, the move marks a return to a club he says runs in his blood. Having swapped the dressing room for the boardroom, he now hopes to pair his commercial experience with a captain's eye for culture and leadership — the very qualities, he suggests, that Yorkshire will need most as it chases the glory its new strategy promises.

Subject to AGM confirmation, Yorkshire Cricket's board will comprise: Colin Graves CBE (Chair), Ian Townsend (deputy chair), Sanjay Patel MBE (Group CEO), Sanjeev Gandhi, Katherine Sciver-Brunt OBE, Jane Ellison, Karen Birch, Kate Nicholls OBE and Steven Patterson.