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Colin Graves wants to return to Yorkshire Country Cricket Club as chairman but has made it clear that “it will be on my terms”.
The Costcutter founder was chief executive of Yorkshire between 2012 and 2015, after he helped rescue the club from financial trouble in 2002.
He left that role in 2015 to take up a similar role at the England and Wales Cricket Board, but is interested in returning after Lord Kamlesh Patel announced his resignation in March.
Lord Patel led the club’s efforts to emerge from the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal, but the club is currently looking for a new chair, and Graves is keen to fill the void.
Money is once again tight at Headingley, with compensation payments to Rafiq and others, legal settlements and commercial losses all contributing to a predicted loss of more than £2m.
The Graves Family Trust, which now operates independently of Graves, also has debts of around £16m.
The 74-year-old thinks he has the skills to stabilize it but, given the revelations and accusations that have damaged the club in the past, many may feel that new leadership is long overdue.
Graves, formalizing his interest in the role in terms usually healthy and strong, told the Yorkshire Post: “The club knows my opinion. If I return, it will be my condition.
Lord Kamlesh Patel has announced his resignation in March
“I will work with the board. I will work with everyone who is there. But I will open it as I want and I know that I can change it in three years basically. I really want to do it. .
“I don’t want money, I don’t want to be paid, I’ll give it my all and if it’s seven days a week, seven days a week to get these things back to where they need to be. There’s a lot to do.
“I know I can bring to the table what Yorkshire wants at this time, which is to heal all the wounds, to get the members back to being a members’ club, work with the council to get them in the right position. move forward and resolve the financial situation they’re looking at.”
Whether Graves’ insistence on full autonomy chimes with the views of chief executive Stephen Vaughan, who was appointed in November and has his own ideas about the way forward, remains to be seen, but Graves is reported to enjoy some support on the Yorkshire board.
A statement in response from the White Rose said: “Lord Patel will step down as chairman of Yorkshire County Cricket Club at the next AGM.
“The new chair will be appointed following a thorough, fair and robust recruitment process, to ensure the right individuals are in place and continue the significant progress the club has made during his tenure.”
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