What went wrong?

Yorkshire failed to win a match until mid-August and even winning the C&G Trophy final at Lord's could not save a dismal season.

Aussie skipper Darren Lehman has had his methods questioned, while Yorkshire greatly missed the talents of England duo Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard.

What do you put Yorkshire's failings down to?

This debate is now closed

All the best players over the last few seasons have been used for England duty. While I acknowledge that this is absolutely necessary, we must give some consideration to the clubs that the players have been taken from.

Would Sir Alex Ferguson from Manchester United let Beckam and Giggs go for a whole season with only two matches played? I think not. If we are to continue this trend, the clubs must be compensated with some extra points.
Steve Corcoran, Great Britain

I believe there are a number of reasons why Yorkshire had problems this year. Firstly, Yorkshire, for whatever reasons, lost the services of David Byas. David was not only a good captain but a player who scored over 800 first class runs in our Championship-winning season.

We didn't get a replacement for David and so put extra pressure on our batsman to make up for the loss. Secondly, except Matthew Hoggard, every one of our first class bowlers has been injured during the season and many of them for long periods of the season. And, yes we played very badly as well.
John Cook, England (Yorkshire)

Poor performance has to come down to one man: the captain. Don't get me wrong, I think Darren Lehmann is an excellent cricketer. His batting is superb. But as a captain I think he's lost his way a bit.

Maybe the thought of getting back in the Australian side was always in the back of his mind. If I was in charge, I'd give the captaincy to Blakey full time and tell Darren Lehmann just to do what he does best: scoring runs!
Joel Wainwright, England

Not much I can add to all the salient points above. We clearly missed Byas both as captain and as batsman. Interesting to see how the team performed better under Blakey as captain rather than Lehmann, who I think should have been in the line-up as a batsman only.

The C&G final was a lone triumph, we shall just have to emerge all the stronger next season and it will help greatly if England would start picking players from other counties (he said selfishly!)
Matt Arnoldi, UK

Maybe last year was the exception. Nearly all the players peaked at the same time and consequently many games were won. This year seems to have been the opposite - too many players out of form and not enough to carry the team through the bad patches.

Still, the name on a trophy is some compensation - how many counties would have loved to have a won a trophy? And is relegation such a bad thing?
Martin Warriner, Yorkshire

I just think that we did very poorly in all areas and our position reflects that. However, it's more than just the on-field antics that need to be sorted. We have missed players, but it's not an excuse seeing as we missed them last season and won the title.

However, I think the players know they have been poor, so hopefully they can apply themselves and get us back up next season. Good job it's not football or we would have lost a shed load of cash going down!
Paul, UK

Now that Yorkshire are down, it's time for them to go for broke (not that they aren't already). Raise some serious cash (or go down on your knees), and go for a certain Mr. Tendulkar.

Not only would this ensure gate receipts, but this would almost certainly bring them back up to where they belong. An often repeated quote would be appropriate here: when you have nothing to lose, you gotta go for it. So, the folks at Leeds: this is your chance, you just named a box after SRT, now you can have him help you get back on track.
Sanjeev Sinha, USA

Like several of your other correspondents, I question the commitment of Yorkshire players under Darren Lehman. He is a quality player but seems not to possess the steel to captain the side.

It is also true that the England players have been sorely missed. The future looks okay though, with so many young cricketers coming through. Just let Blakey keep the captaincy!
David Harris, UK

I think we got found out for having a week batting line up - getting rid of Byas without at least replacing him with another quality batsman was madness. The only thing that has impressed me this season is the way Richard Blakey responded to the captaincy - maybe he should have been captain from the start!
Dave, Yorkshire

Consistently underperforming players have the comfort of Yorkshire contracts and endless time to search for the elusive runs. Yorkshire have consistently failed to produce a first innings total this year following a season when they destroyed their opposition by building mammoth scores.

Players must take responsibility for their actions, but the club is most successful when they have a strong captain - and Byas came into that category.
Steven Firth, UK

Persistent failure to score enough runs in the first innings was the key. Byas wasn't the most adventurous of captains, but his batting in the middle order was a big factor in the championship win.

The disintegration of Wood's form, and Lumb's slower than expected progress, left us relying too heavily on the Aussies and Blakey. The county has some difficult decisions on whom to let go, but Blakey should be retained as a specialist batsmen to give some substance to the top of the order.
John Storm, UK

It went wrong the day they got rid of David Byas - utter stupidity! The whole puffed-up, egotistical committee should resign and go to a desert island where they can squabble to their heart's content and let our players get on with their cricket.
John Harvey, UK (Castleford, W Yorks)

As in any sport, when there are problems in the boardroom they will eventually manifest themselves on the field of play. Relegation is probably the shake-up Yorkshire needs. Get it sorted at the top, tell the Aussie's to drop Lehmann and the current depth of squad will walk the Second Division next season.
Bob, In self imposed exile, West Sussex

Having resided in Canada for 38 years, I went to see the last two championship games Yorkshire played last season. I should have stayed in Canada! The selection was a joke, the team's application was a joke...both Surrey and Essex destroyed them.
David Turner, Canada

A disappointing but inevitable end to a season that did not live up to the potential that Yorkshire promised. There are many contributory factors that could be considered...England duties and the like...but this isn't the time for excuses.

The stark facts are that the team underachieved in all departments. Some of the batting totals were woefully inadequate, and not good enough at top class level. The bowlers had nothing to bowl at. Too many damaging defeats at the beginning of the season were always going to be difficult to claw back later on, and in truth the writing has been on the wall for some time.

However we have the nucleus of a good team, with many promising young players just waiting to impress, and I have no doubt that they will emerge all the stronger in the second division next season, when they will surely win the championship. We need Blakey to remain though-he will be instrumental in motivating the youngsters.
Stephen Brooks, UK (Hinckley, Leics)

Oh, who cares where it went wrong. Let's just bask in the warm glow of their demise. See you next year at Old Trafford...oops, no we won't. Ha ha ha.
Your Red Rose neighbours, UK (Lancs)

The committee are to blame as far as I understand. When you create a debt of �6 million and show your inability to manage the club is it any wonder that it ultimately affects events on the field? No wonder David Byas left them to it?
Peter Barraclough, Yorkshire

The big turning point in Yorkshire's demise was the loss of David Byas. What were the committee thinking of? Darren Lehman is a quality player, and probably a good captain, but you can't captain a side when you're on the other side of the world. I also think Byas ran a tight ship but, I'm not sure Lehman does.

Loosing a couple of quality players on England duty is NOT a reason why Yorkshire should get relegated. Surrey manage every year with player loss and still perform, and bearing in mind the size of Yorkshire and the number of quality leagues and teams we should never struggle to produce replacements for our missing stars. No man is bigger than a club, but maybe David Byas was a bigger man than Yorkshire!
Rich, England

What other first-class county would sack its captain following their only championship title in a generation? The people who conspired against Byas sowed the seeds of self destruction last August. They should take the responsibility for the present shambles. Byas must be laughing teacakes, along with the other 17 first-class counties.
Nigel Wilkin, Yorkshire

Yorkshire just didn't play well enough - especially in the first half of the season. You could point to specific factors - the younger batsmen all had dreadful seasons; the loss of players to England; long-term injury problems for all the quick bowlers; and an almost complete absence of good fortune, exemplified by loss of playing time to the weather whenever they looked like getting into a winning position.

In view of what has happened, since Blakey took over the captaincy, you also have to question the wisdom of having Lehmann as captain. There seems to have been more steel to their play since he left for Australia. But in the end, the squad hasn't been good enough this year. Still, with 40% of the U19 squad being from Yorks, the future has to be bright.
Jim Brant, UK (Yorkshire)