Colin Graves confirms interest in Yorkshire return: "I can turn it around in three years"

A new chair is needed at Headingley, with Lord Kamlesh Patel set to step down from the role in March after 16 turbulent months. Graves, a divisive figure within the cricket community, is keen to fill the void

Colin Graves has confirmed his desire to become Yorkshire chair for a second time, saying he needs three years at the club to "turn it around".

Graves rescued Yorkshire from financial oblivion in 2002 and spent 13 years at the club before moving on to become chair of the ECB in 2015. The county still owes his trust around £16million. 

A new chair is needed at Headingley, with Lord Kamlesh Patel set to step down from the role in March after 16 turbulent months. Graves, a divisive figure within the cricket community, is keen to fill the void.

^{Colin Graves has said he is interested in a return to the Yorkshire chair [Getty Images]}

^{Lord Kamlesh Patel is standing down in March [Getty Images]}

He told the Yorkshire Post: "The club knows my views. If I come back, it will be on my terms. I'll work with the board. I'll work with everybody who's there. But I'll run it how I want to run it and I know I can turn it around in three years basically.

"I'm keen to do it. I don't want money for it. I don't want to be paid. I will give it my all and if it's seven days a week, it's seven days a week to get the thing back to where it needs to be. There's a lot to be done.

"Basically, I know I can sort out the financial position going forward and I can get Yorkshire back on an even keel. We'll put the club back together from a members' point of view and from a players' point of view and everybody else. We'll move on from everything that's happened and get to where we need to be as a county cricket club."

Yorkshire would likely have faced a fresh financial crisis over the past year, had many of the reforms introduced by Lord Patel not been put in place.

^{Graves saved Yorkshire from a financial crisis in 2002 [Getty Images]}

^{Yorkshire has endured a turbulent two years [Getty Images]}

The ECB suspended Headingley from hosting international cricket in response to the club's action over claims of institutional racism, and the treatment of Azeem Rafiq.

Had that ban been upheld, a vital revenue stream would have dried up. Sponsorship agreements also had to be sought after many of the club's primary sponsors pulled out following the initial revelations made by Rafiq. 

Yet Lord Patel's decision to sack 16 contracted and sub-contracted members of staff also led to a series of payouts and legal processes, and sparked anger among some sections of the community. One case, involving the former physio Wayne Morton, remains ongoing in the courts.

Any return for Graves would be perceived in some quarters as a regressive step by Yorkshire, but the 74-year-old said: "A lot of people who say things about me don't know me.

"They judge me on comments made by other people. They don't know me at all"

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