When Yorkshire County Cricket Club decided to upgrade its indoor training facility at Headingley Stadium, the expectations were clear — the new surface needed to be durable, high-performing, ECB compliant, and ready to host elite-level cricket.
Durant Sports was appointed by Construction North Group Ltd as a key contractor, working in collaboration with GCP Chartered Architects, to deliver all specialist flooring preparation and installation works within the centre. We are proud to be able to say that this facility has been shortlisted for the ECB’s 2025 Best Development or New Facility (Over £500,000) — a prestigious award recognising the most impactful cricket facility projects delivered across England and Wales.
This nomination reflects more than great construction — it recognises facilities that genuinely change participation, improve player development pathways, and create long-term community benefit.
The Flooring System: DuraFlex
Our role at Headingley focused on flooring performance and safety — the foundation of every successful indoor cricket environment.
The programme began with extensive sub-floor remediation and mechanical preparation, including grinding, screeding and profiling more than 800m² to achieve a clean, stable base.
We then installed:
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351m² of DuraFlex Indoor Vinyl (Mint Green) — our ECB-approved performance vinyl designed specifically for cricket.
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153m² of Gerflor Taraflex Performance (Clay) — ideal for wider sports usage and multi-activity areas.
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Altro Atlas flooring — fitted to changing rooms and walkways, offering stud-resistant, high-traffic protection.
The system was completed with new cricket crease markings and lane layouts to ECB guidance.
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The Perfect Configuration
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Our DuraFlex + Taraflex configuration has proven so effective that shortly after completing Headingley, Durant Sports was appointed to deliver the full flooring package at Brighton Cricket Academy, a 2,200m² facility that now stands as the largest indoor cricket academy by footprint in the Northern Hemisphere.
Brighton uses the same lane surfacing configuration as Headingley — DuraFlex cricket vinyl integrated with Gerflor Taraflex — further demonstrating its suitability for elite and high-throughput training environments.
The Square One Cricket Centre, The University of Brighton Falmer Sports Complex. Read more here.
So why is this configuration so effective?
The distinctive colour palette was developed at Headingley through a rigorous specification process driven by GCP Chartered Architects, with direct input from Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s coaching team. The priority was to emulate the appearance of a natural grass wicket while providing optimal ball visibility for red, white, and pink balls under ECB-standard lighting conditions. Inclusivity was central to the process, with careful consideration for players with colour vision deficiency throughout design and testing. View testing here...
Seventeen initial colour samples were assessed, narrowed to a shortlist of five, before extensive on-site testing determined the final earth and green tones now installed. The resulting surface stands as one of the most visually accessible and player-inclusive indoor cricket environments in the UK.
Specialist Install Partner
At Headingley, Durant Sports was utilised solely for flooring preparation and installation.
However, it’s important to note that our in-house teams routinely deliver:
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Indoor cricket nets and trackway systems.
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Vinyl and woven cricket surfacing.
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Wall protection / Softwall.
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Scoreboards, Video Screens, lighting supports, and tension cages.
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Outdoor non-turf match pitches and practice facilities.
We are one of the only UK specialists capable of designing, fabricating, installing, and handing over entire indoor cricket and wider sport environments all in-house.
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