BARNSLEY CC will play outside the top division of Yorkshire cricket for the first time in their storied history but are hoping to make an immediate return.

The Shaw Laners, now known as Barnsley Woolley Miners, have gone down from Yorkshire Premier South with a game to spare after they suffered a tenth straight defeat at Wakefield Thornes.

The club that helped produce the likes of Geoffrey Boycott, Dickie Bird, Martyn Moxon and Darren Gough will play in the Championship next season alongside Elsecar, Rockingham and possibly Darfield. They have fielded a very young side, especially after South African Sean Whitehead and UAE international Jash Gyanani left earlier than expected having been their top performers.

Cricket chair Jason Booth: “Some seasons you look around and think: ‘how have we ended up there in the table?’ But this season it’s quite clear. Sometimes you have to take your medicine.

“We lost five really senior players last season who we tried to replace but we came to the conclusion that, within our budget, there wasn’t the right quality and type of people to replace them.

“We had put a lot of time and effort into players who had been at the club since they were juniors and took the decision to give them a chance.

“For most of the season, the team has averaged 20 or 21 in age and, on Saturday, seven of them were teenagers. We knew we would be in a relegation battle and, when we interviewed the overseas player, we told him third-bottom would be an achievement.

“At the halfway point we were doing quite well and looked safe-ish.

“We thought we would only need a couple more wins to stay up.

“We were unlucky that our two senior players left unexpectedly in the middle of the season. Jash got another job opportunity and Sean was recalled by a club in South Africa.

“We have four players who are in the Yorkshire set-up but they have had injury problems or been rested a lot by Yorkshire which we accept.

“We’ve become a 150 team with the bat and we can’t defend 250 with the ball.

“We can’t compete financially with some of the clubs in the Premier Division. We have fielded a fully amateur side at the end of the season which no other club has done in this league.

“The people running the club are custodians and we have to hand it over in the best place. We’ve chosen to invest money in the facilities and improving the environment for the future.”

Barnsley are now preparing to recover from relegation immediately.

Booth said: “The Championship is the applicable standard for the players and team at the moment. We hope it’s only going to be one season.

“We want to get straight back up.

“All our players will learn from the experience of this season.

“We hope to be very competitive in the Championship but again we’re competing against clubs who put a lot more money into their teams. We will make some signings and try to bring in the strongest overseas possible.

“We’re in a process of working out who will stay, including the Yorkshire players, but we don’t want anybody to leave.

“We have told players that, in 12 months, they could be celebrating promotion with us if they stay.

“The club will never ever stop providing opportunities for young players who come through our system or are from the Barnsley area. We know we can be a vehicle for players to reach First Class level or higher. We think our facilities, our history and our ability to make young players better gives us a unique selling point. We have a lot of very talented juniors coming through.”

Barnsley’s second XI have been relegated from Division One after being bowled out for 33 in a ten-wicket defeat to Coal Aston, while the fourth XI have finished bottom of Division Seven and pulled out of their game at the weekend.

The third XI are ten points and one place clear of the Division Four relegation zone but could still go down.

Booth said: “That’s a symptom of availability. We had 55 players registered at the start of season. But you add a few injuries and some players who move on, others have holidays or family events – because players miss a lot more games now than when I was playing – and suddenly you are down to 40 or below for four teams, and we need 44.

“So we have had to concede games. Our fourth team captain Steve Dixon needs praise because he’s had to deal with a lot this season.”

At Wakefield, Barnsley posted 199 with William Nicholson making 51 not out but the hosts won with nine wickets and 96 balls left.

Cawthorne will be the only Barnsley team in the top flight next season.

They are eighth after being removed for 116 in a seven-wicket loss against Appleby Frodingham.