The mayors of Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire have pleaded with the England and Wales Cricket Board to reconsider its northern snub for the 2027 men’s Ashes.

England captain Ben Stokes admitted earlier this week he was “devastated” by the allocation for the five-Test series in four years’ time, with both Headingley and Emirates Old Trafford missing out.

It means that the most northerly of the grounds will be Trent Bridge, which has not staged a men’s Ashes Test since 2015, while Edgbaston, Lord’s, the Kia Oval and the Ageas Bowl are also host venues.

An uneven geographical split has been labelled “disappointing” and “remarkable” by Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham and West Yorkshire’s Tracy Brabin in an open letter to ECB chair Richard Thompson.

“We are writing to express our disappointment at the English Cricket Board’s announcement of match venues for the Men’s Ashes in 2027,” wrote the mayors.

“Headingley and Old Trafford are two of England’s most iconic cricket grounds, and home to historic Ashes moments from Ian Botham’s heroics in 1981 to Ben Stokes’ own ‘Miracle of Headingley’ in 2019.

“Very few grounds attract support as passionate or indeed as diverse as Headingley and Old Trafford – as a number of England players themselves have acknowledged in recent days.

“It feels even more remarkable therefore that an area so passionate about cricket, with a population of over 15 million people, misses out on a Men’s Ashes Test in 2027 while the South hosts three.”

This last point has drawn scrutiny, with traditional London venues Lord’s and the Kia Oval joined by the Ageas Bowl, which will stage its first men’s Ashes Test in 2027.

Headingley will play host to the women’s Ashes Test in four years’ time while the Yorkshire ground and Old Trafford both return to the men’s programme for the 2031 series between the old rivals.

“It does not feel right at a time when cricket needs to do more to spread interest in the game around the country that London consistently hosts three Tests every summer,” Burnham and Brabin added.

“Next year for example, Lord’s hosts one third of England’s Men’s Tests whilst Headingley doesn’t get any.

“The rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire within cricket is legendary, but this is an issue that unites both sides of the Pennines.

“We urge you to think again and ensure people in the North of England get the opportunity to witness more iconic Ashes moments in 2027.”

West Indies fast bowling legend, Curtly Ambrose, has not been selected for the position of England Cricket Board (ECB) elite pace-bowling coach, despite making the shortlist of candidates interviewed.

The ECB put out an advertisement for three vacant positions, pace-bowling coach, spin-bowling coach and batting coach, in December.  Interviews were conducted in recent weeks after applications closed last month.

Ambrose, who made known that he had applied for the post a few weeks ago, revealed that he had been contacted but unfortunately was not selected for the post.

“I got a call from one of the panellists yesterday [Thursday] to inform me that I was unsuccessful in my bid. The interview went very well. There were four panellists and everything went according to plan and I thought I did a wonderful job, so I was pretty excited. I thought I probably would have made it but I am not going to really worry too much about it. To have made the shortlist is a step in the right direction obviously,” Ambrose told the Antigua Observer.

With the Ashes on the horizon, Ambrose, who has taken 128 wickets against Australia (fourth-best all-time, with the best economy rate among the top 5), admits that he was hoping that his previously dominant performances down under might have weighed in his favour.

“I was expecting to be part of the squad considering the World T20 coming up and, of course, the Ashes. You know that when England play Australia in the Ashes, it’s a big one and I thought that maybe because of my tremendous success in Australia that it would have, at least, given me an extra step, but it didn’t work out and I am quite happy with how everything went. In life, we get some good news and some not so good, and you learn to accept it and move on,” he said.

The 57-year-old previously worked as West Indies bowling consultant between 2014 and 2016.  He was replaced by Roddy Estwick.