Chris Waters: Refreshing to see Graves speak his mind over Yorkshire failure

And, if he did, the Yorkshire chairman would probably call it a bloody shovel. Or even an effing shovel.

In the world of blunt speaking, Graves has few peers. He does not do pussy-footed rambling or wishy-washy platitudes.

An eruption from Graves makes Sir Alex Ferguson’s hairdryer treatment sound like a pat on the back. And there was more than a touch of the hairdryer about Graves’s criticism of Yorkshire’s cricketers following their ignominious relegation from the County Championship First Division.

So much so, the white-hot blasts are still reverberating around Headingley.

For the benefit of anyone who missed Graves’s assessment of Yorkshire’s performances during an interview with the Yorkshire Post, here are a few highlights.

He branded the performances “a disgrace” and “unacceptable” and urged the players “to take a long, hard look at themselves.”

Graves added: “We’ve given them everything they wanted – contracts, salaries, we’ve given them everything.

“So they can’t turn round and say Yorkshire’s done this or Yorkshire’s done that. In the past, they’ve blamed the Headingley pitch and said we can’t get a result pitch at Headingley.

“Well, we’ve had bloody result pitches this year, but we kept losing on them. Don’t blame the bloody pitch, it’s not the pitch. It’s the fact they can’t play on it, that’s the problem.”

Judging by the Yorkshire Post mailbag, Graves’s remarks have struck a chord with the county members.

Many seeing his words as a breath of fresh air – something that clearly needed saying.

Graves’s opinions have got the grapevine buzzing in the time-honoured traditions of Yorkshire cricket.

Although I by no means think the club’s failings were solely down to the players (what about the lack of a replacement for Jacques Rudolph, a winter training schedule that left some players jaded before the season began and some questionable team selections?), I find Graves’s comments refreshing – not least from a journalistic perspective.

If I had a pound for the number of times a sporting official has uttered banal statements into my Dictaphone about even the most trivial issues, I would no longer be working for the Yorkshire Post and would instead be gazing out of a villa in Barbados.

Graves, who happens to enjoy that luxury (the villa in Barbados, not the gig with the Yorkshire Post), at least has the guts to say what he thinks.

In an era of monotone pronouncements, that, at least, has to be applauded, even if some may baulk at the tenor of his observations.

Another striking aspect of Graves’s interview – particularly in light of the team’s disappointing performances across the board – was his staunch support for Martyn Moxon, the club’s director of professional cricket.

A record of 14 wins in 44 games this season is not the sort that would do a football manager any favours, but Graves has steadfastly stood by his man.

The contrast between the plain-spoken chairman and the not-so-trigger-happy chairman is also unusual and, in my view, refreshing.

Indeed, it is far too easy to say “sack the manager” or “sack the board” – a familiar refrain at football grounds.

Such policies have taken august footballing institutions such as Lincoln City to the lower reaches of the Blue Square Premier League.

Why shouldn’t players be criticised from time to time?

After all, they are lauded often enough when they do well – so much so, one does not need to venture far to find those with vastly inflated opinions of their worth.

I may not agree with everything Moxon does or has done, just as he would not agree with everything I or anybody else writes about his team, but there is no reason why he cannot take Yorkshire forward.

Last year, Moxon led a young Yorkshire side to third in the Championship and to the semi-finals of the CB40, an achievement that sparked few complaints at the time.

Indeed, it was only a few months ago that his fellow county coaches voted him and Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket Mick Newell the best two coaches in the land, and the coaches, it must be presumed, know what they are talking about.

I have had regular dealings with Moxon and Newell, having also covered Nottinghamshire for four seasons before joining the Yorkshire Post in 2004, and like and respect both men.

And although you would rightly not find too many people criticising Newell, who has led Nottinghamshire to two Championships since replacing Clive Rice in 2002, how easy it is to forget that he, too, has tasted relegation.

And not once, mark you, but twice.

In 2003, Nottinghamshire were relegated only to bounce back the following year and, the year after, win the Championship.

In 2006, they were relegated again – only to bounce back straight away again.

Nottinghamshire have stood by Newell – perhaps the closest thing to sporting longevity by the banks of the Trent since Brian Clough – and have reaped the rewards.

And Newell, I would suggest, has had more quality cricketers than Moxon at his disposal in recent years.

I sometimes hear it said that Moxon is too much of a nice bloke, the inference being that you can only be successful by being a bad guy.

That is poppycock.

Newell is also a nice bloke but do not be fooled: both can turn on their own hairdryers when necessary.

You do not have to be a baddie to prosper in professional sport or, for that matter, in any profession, but you do need the right backing to do your job properly, support through the rough times as well as the smooth.

Graves, it would seem, recognises that fact and if he wants to have a pop at the players instead of the coach, then he is clearly not as narrow-minded as a good many people in his position.