Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) has launched a ground appeal to try and support the repayment of loans which enabled the club to buy Headingley at the end of 2005.

YCCC purchased the Headingley Carnegie Stadium through a deal primarily funded by a £9m loan from Leeds City Council, with further backing from HSBC.

Yorkshire Pride – the general banner for the appeal – has a number of key areas the club will be using to encourage fundraising, including hosting dinners and functions, merchandising, corporate backing and major donors, and harnessing the club cricket community, which has more than 50,000 players at 900 clubs.

The chief executive of YCCC, Stewart Regan, said: "We are looking to raise a minimum of £6m to reduce our bank overdraft, make final payments and commence the development of a state of the art cricket pavilion at Headingley." Details: www.yorkshireccc.com