Graves loans to cost Yorkshire £500,000 a year in interest

COLIN GRAVES is set to charge Yorkshire interest payments of around 10 per cent a year as part of a £5million refinancing package to ensure the club’s survival. The Yorkshire board unanimously accepted Graves’ offer, which will see him resume his previous role as chairman and effectively buy Headingley by converting an existing £16m loan into equity, but the club will continue to make regular payments to the 75-year-old. Graves is not planning to inject any new cash into a business that, as Mail Sport revealed last month, has been relying on advances from the ECB to pay staff wages throughout the winter. But he has committed to providing a £1m unsecured personal loan, as well as sourcing further borrowing of £4m within the next five months. Under the terms of the loan agreement, Graves is understood to be charging interest of 4.8 per cent above the Bank of England base rate, which is currently 5.25 per cent, leaving Yorkshire with a bill of around £500,000 for the interest alone in the coming year. Graves declined to comment on loan arrangements. He has agreed to lease Headingley to Yorkshire rent-free after completing the equity conversion however, a process that will also give him control of the Hundred franchise based at the ground, the Northern Superchargers. The Hundred franchises are linked to the eight major international grounds, which could prove extremely lucrative as the ECB are planning to hand over 50 per cent of each franchise to the venues this year. Turning Graves’ debt into equity will mean Yorkshire are no longer a member-owned club — a change which needs to be ratified by a 75 per cent majority of the club’s 3,500 members. Yorkshire today called an extraordinary general meeting for February 2 for the membership to vote on Graves’ refinancing offer. Graves’ impending return to Yorkshire has proved controversial as his previous spell in charge between 2012 and 2015 coincided with the period when Azeem Rafiq suffered racist abuse at the club. In an interview with Sky Sports last year, Graves played down the abuse as ‘banter’, which was criticised by the ECB. Graves yesterday issued an unreserved apology for past racism at Yorkshire and his use of the word banter. But his contrition does not appear to have mollified his critics, with the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, summoning him to appear at Westminster next month.

‘The return of Colin Graves to Yorkshire risks undermining what progress has been made so far,’ Dinenage said. ‘If the club is serious about rebuilding its reputation, as well as its finances, then there needs to be a commitment from Mr Graves and the club to fully respect the findings of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket.

‘The DCMS will be watching closely as this deal progresses, so that the terrible past of Yorkshire CCC does not repeat itself.’