In 2005, the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, with financial support from Leeds City Council, purchased the freehold of the Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground. In so doing, the club secured a 15-year staging agreement to host international cricket matches here in Yorkshire.

Part of this agreement included a commitment to the England and Wales Cricket Board to develop the ground and facilities at Headingley Carnegie. In particular, the club has committed to providing new world-class changing facilities for players and a new media centre for the broadcasters and press which presents a more professional image than the wooden sheds that are currently the home to Messrs Gower, Botham and Hussein during the Test Match.

Given the club's significant debt of around £18m there is no way that we could afford to make these improvements and without them we risk losing our staging agreement going forward.

Impact

We cannot contemplate losing international cricket which delivers a positive economic impact to Yorkshire of some £3.5m per Test Match. As such we have sought organisations to help us deliver the vision and in Leeds Met University we have found a very forward-looking, supportive and flexible partner. If planning permission is granted then the university will invest some £14m into the project (along with Yorkshire Forward who have committed up to a further £4m in support). No other organisation would build a building and then vacate it to allow their tenant to host major cricket events during the summer months.

Quite simply, this is a brilliant, unique and innovative partnership which combines sport with education to benefit both parties. Instead of the building sitting empty during the winter months when there is no cricket being played, the asset will be utilised to teach students in tourism, hospitality and event management as well as digital journalism. How amazing will it be for these students to be taught in a working, real-life media centre where rooms will be dual-purpose, operating as teaching rooms one day and media suites on another?

With reference to Mr Tyler's specific concerns, hopefully I can offer some reassurance.

The Carnegie Pavilion, if constructed, would house Yorkshire County Cricket Club all year round and not just on six days per year. Presumably Mr Tyler refers to our six (minimum) international cricket days but on top of that we will be staging Twenty20 matches, Friends Provident (50 overs) matches, LV County Championship matches and NatWest Pro40 matches too.

Our players, physiotherapists, ticket office staff, administration staff and management team will all be based in the building for 12 months per year and as such the club will have a new home and a new 'front door' facing out on to Kirkstall Lane.

Reduction

There will be some 850 students using the building for teaching purposes during term-time but a plan has been presented to Leeds City Council which clearly demonstrates that there is a net reduction of some 2,000 students in Headingley when the Business Faculty relocates to the new Rose Bowl complex in the Civic Quarter. As such, it is likely that the demand for accommodation in Headingley could actually reduce.

Many students are actively seeking accommodation in the city centre to meet their needs and the surplus of high-quality, lower cost apartments there is encouraging demand to grow. In addition, the development of the new Carnegie Student Village at the Headingley campus will also reduce student demand for residential accommodation in the suburb.

The Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds Met University have a very comprehensive plan for ensuring we retain international cricket in Yorkshire.

If given the go-ahead we hope to develop a landmark building for the people of Yorkshire to be proud of, a building that will be recognised the world over and seen by some 500 million TV viewers tuning in for Test Matches. This has to be good news for the region.

Let's not knock Leeds Met and view their actions with suspicion. Rather, let's take our hats off to them and say well done for backing the club at a crucial period in our development.

Stewart Regan, Chief Executive, The Yorkshire County Cricket Club