Colin Graves’ controversial return to Yorkshire has been approved by club members at an extraordinary general meeting.
Graves was Yorkshire’s “only viable option”, according to the England and Wales Cricket Board, after the county agreed to a proposal from a consortium led by the controversial former chairman.
Members voted 746-99 in favour (88 per cent) of passing the board’s special resolution proposing his return. The vote is subject to regulatory approval by the Financial Conduct Authority in the next 12 to 14 days.
The financially-stricken club are in desperate need of cash to ward off the threat of administration and say that due to inflation, interest rates and fears of reputational damage, all other avenues were “exhausted”.
Graves’ offer was given the green light from club members at an extraordinary general meeting that was held at Headingley on Friday with the former chairman committing to advancing an unsecured loan of £1m to the club, with the aim to find a further £4m of investment over a five-month period.
“We as directors would not be discharging our duty of care if we deliberately put this club into administration just because we didn’t like a personality,” current chair Harry Chathli told members at the EGM. “That cannot happen.”
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Yorkshire CEO Stephen Vaughan says the club was left with ‘no choice’ and believes Colin Graves’ expected return as Yorkshire chairman will be a ‘good day’ for Yorkshire cricket
With almost £15m owed to the Graves family trust and a host of other potential investors no longer at the table, the Yorkshire board said last month it was recommending a loan offer from Graves “having exhausted all other options” in its search for refinancing to avoid entering administration.
Graves’ return is controversial. His initial spell as chairman covered part of the period where Yorkshire were fined £400,000 for failing to address the systemic use of racist or discriminatory language, although the 75-year-old says he did not witness any racism while he was in charge.
Last month he apologised to anyone who experienced racism at Yorkshire, and expressed “profound regret” at the language he used in an interview with Sky Sports last summer when he said no one had reported racism to him but that there had been “a lot of banter”.
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Azeem Rafiq says the ECB do not care about tackling racism in cricket – Sky Sports News has approached the ECB for comment
Azeem Rafiq, who in 2020 spoke out about the racism he experienced across two spells at Yorkshire, says he does not accept Graves’ apology.
The ECB criticised Graves in 2023 after he described incidents of racism at Yorkshire as “banter” and he released a statement saying he “profoundly regrets” that choice of words among a wider apology.
“We have kissed a lot of frogs and been to lots of beauty parades, and we are at a place now where the deal that Colin and his team are bringing to the table is the only one that will keep the business solvent going forward,” Yorkshire chief executive Stephen Vaughan said