Exclusive: Yorkshire cricket's woes over huge debt laid bare

Leeds Metropolitan University commissioned the review after Yorkshire were unable to make the repayments due on the new 21m pavilion that opened last month.

In the spring, the club asked to defer payments of 3m due to Leeds Met, which paid for the pavilion to be built and will use two thirds of the building for educational purposes.

But university governors were unwilling to agree without reassurance of the club's financial viability and, in April, commissioned accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to go through Yorkshire's accounts.

Now a report to governors, obtained by the Yorkshire Post under a Freedom of Information request, outlines the findings and reaffirms the university's belief the club could not guarantee it could meet a new payments schedule even though it would be deferred for two years.

It said: "The review confirmed the university's own findings that

YCCC's current financial position is extremely difficult and accordingly the club are in no position to guarantee our repayments."

As a result, Leeds Met is insisting club chairman Colin Graves, founder of the Costcutter supermarket chain, personally guarantees payments in case Yorkshire defaults. Finalagreement has not yet been reached.

The move has emerged just days after the club announced Mr Graves was to take over as chief executive in a move aimed at saving money in the wake of Stewart Regan's departure to run the Scottish Football Association.

Backroom job losses were also confirmed as Yorkshire struggle to contend with huge debts from rebuilding Headingley, exacerbated by very poor ticket sales when the club staged last month's test match between Pakistan and Australia.

Under the proposed new schedule, repayment of half the 3m over a 20-year rental period remains unchanged. The remaining 1.5m, which was due to be paid in four equal instalments, beginning last September, would now be deferred until September 2012 and paid over six annual instalments instead.

Leeds Met had previously stated that Yorkshire had paid 300,000 of the first of the four planned 375,000 payments but last night the university acknowledged it had been mistaken and the club had not paid any part of the due instalments.

Repayment of a further 278,000, plus VAT, spent on additional work at the pavilion at Yorkshire's behest is also now due to be deferred until 2012 before being repaid in six annual instalments. Interest will be charged on all the deferred payments.

Mr Graves was unavailable for comment but a Leeds Met spokesman said: "The university recognises our responsibility for the stewardship of public funds and has a duty to ensure contractual obligations are met. We are pleased to have had positive discussions with Yorkshire County Cricket Club regarding financial arrangements for the Carnegie Pavilion. Final details have yet to be concluded but we are looking forward to our students benefiting from this exciting new facility from the autumn term."

Yorkshire have also arranged to defer repayments, until 2012, on a 9m loan from Leeds City Council used to buy out Headingley's former owner to allow redevelopment to go ahead.