News

Colin Graves: the man who saved Yorkshire

Cricket administrators rarely win many plaudits. They are, like wicketkeepers and cars, generally only noticed when they fail

Cricket administrators rarely win many plaudits. They are, like wicketkeepers and cars, generally only noticed when they fail.
But as Yorkshire supporters celebrate their first County Championship title since 2001 and only their second since 1968, they might well raise a glass to the club chairman, Colin Graves.
When Graves became involved with the club in 2002 it was, arguably, at the lowest point in its history. While the side remained competitive on the pitch, the finances of the club were in such a mess that its very future was in jeopardy.
The club had no assets, huge debts and very little income. The bank was on the verge of taking possession of Headingley and, while cricket would, no doubt, have continued to exist in the county, there would have been no more international cricket and none of the facilities or structures that have led to the 2014 Championship title.
Graves, who made his fortune as founder of the Costcutter supermarket chain, has not only ploughed his own money into the club - he reckons somewhere approaching £10 million in all - but has guaranteed the debts required to buy the ground and invest in its redevelopment. It is no exaggeration to state that Yorkshire cricket would not exist in anything like recognisable form without him. Quite how they could have continued as a first-class county is unclear.
So it was understandable that he looked as delighted as anyone when the County Championship trophy was presented at Trent Bridge. Graves, a cricket lover who put his money where his mouth was, had earned it as much as any player or any coach.
"There have been a lot of low points," Graves said as he looked at the Yorkshire players drenching each other in champagne. "But today makes it all worthwhile.
"What would have happened had I not got involved? That's simple: they would have gone bust. The bank had already put a cross next door to the debt and Headingley was 48 hours from being written off. It was going to go.
"They wouldn't have been playing cricket there, that's for certain. It was owned by Paul Caddick. The rugby side had all the income streams, they had everything. Yorkshire County Cricket Club didn't own a blade of grass.
"When I took it over they had debts of £8 million and no assets. They had no ECB staging agreement. How they got in that position I will never know but banking was different to what it is today. I thought 'we have got a bit of a problem here.'
"We have turned it around financially. Yes, we have debts - about £20 million in all - but people have to realise that we paid £13 million to buy the ground. There is now a £15 million asset in the land alone.
"Why did I do it? A lot of people have asked me that and said I must be nuts. But, purely and simply, I couldn't sit there and watch Yorkshire county cricket club go bust.
"I have been a cricket nut all my life. I have played league cricket in Yorkshire and I enjoyed every minute of it. I have made a lot of friends in Yorkshire and cricket's my passion, it's my hobby and when I knew Yorkshire was in the state it was in there was no way I could sit there and watch it disappear."
Still, the task at hand for Graves did not really dawn on him until he started delving deeper into the club's dire situation.
"I didn't realise what I was taking on at that time. The more I digged, the more stones I turned over and the more problems I found. I thought, 'Christ almighty, what have I done now?'
"When got relegated to the second division, I just couldn't believe that had happened to us. After everything we had put in place and who we had in the team, it should not have happened. That was the low point to me.
"But I never thought of walking away. It has been a massive challenge, but it's great to be where we are now.
While Graves' money has been key, so has restructuring behind the scenes and most notably in the coaching set-up which included the shrewd appointment of Jason Gillespie as first team coach. However, it was not change that people immediately bought into and Graves ended up having to force it upon Martyn Moxon.
"Until four years ago - before Jason Gillespie came - we had a coaching system that was creaking, a flat coaching structure, that wasn't working. Martyn got sucked into a lot of things he shouldn't have got sucked into.
"As soon as we changed it and put in a pyramid coaching structure it worked straightaway. The main thing was, we got the right people involved and they took it forward in leaps and bounds. That's what we needed.
"Martyn appreciates it now. I was pushing for him to do it two years before but Martyn was loyal to the people around him. But when it didn't start changing then I took the decision. I said 'Right, Martyn, it's my call now and it's time to change.' And that's what happened. It was the best thing we ever did.
"We have an Ashes Test match in 2019 and our sponsorship has grown dramatically. Hopefully we can kick on from here."

George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo