Don’t be afraid of the winds of change says Yorkshire CCC chair Colin Graves

His comments come as Yorkshire step up plans to put the issue to the vote, perhaps as early as January, with 50 per cent of the voting membership needed to take part, three-quarters of which must approve the change.

Due to a restructuring of the club’s membership categories from 2022, which gave voting rights - regardless of package - to every Yorkshire adult member, of which there are around 5,000, the club has made changes to its 2025 membership offerings, with members now having to opt-in to receive the free voting rights.

Although some may perceive that as a convenient means of facilitating turnout, members ultimately have the final say and the reality is that only a fraction bother to vote on major club matters, with this one imperative to Yorkshire’s future.

Despite all the hoo-hah surrounding Graves’s return in February, for example, only 15 per cent turned out to vote him in by a landslide, with Yorkshire anxious to ensure that those who care most about the club, and the issues affecting it, are ultimately the ones who are properly represented.

Stressing once again the cruciality of changing ownership, with Yorkshire battling a £10m black hole after the racism crisis, and staring at another £7.5m shortfall due to the lack of a Headingley Test in 2027 and 2028, Graves told members there is nothing to lose.

“Don’t be fearful of demutualisation,” he declared. “There’s no need to be. Demutualisation, to me, is a saviour for this club, and it will bring a breath of fresh air to this club going forward.

“By having money that we can invest in the ground, that we can invest in players, that we can use to help send players - if we get the right partner - abroad and vice-versa… those are the kinds of things that we’ve got to look positively on.

“There is not much negativity that I can see about this. There is nothing to be fearful of. Nobody is taking anything away from the members. It’s all about securing the club and its future.”

Graves said the financial picture remained challenging. He walked back into a situation much worse than he anticipated with “still things coming out of the woodwork which we’re having to deal with”.

Prudent management has helped the club keep its head above water, with extortionate salaries now a thing of the past and at least some concept of employment law having been introduced at board level.

Ticket sales for next summer’s India Test are incoming, with Yorkshire, said Graves, “ok for the next three-to-four months”.

However, he cautioned: “It will be challenging again in January/February, so although we’re going in the right direction we’re not out of the woods by any means, and there are more big challenges ahead in 2027/2028 when we don’t have Tests and when, I can tell you now, the club will lose money.”

Demutualisation would transform the picture, with Graves adamant that “there are a lot of people, a lot of rich people, a lot of investment companies who want to invest in Yorkshire”.

Rightly or wrongly, the sport is heading in one direction - one in which members’ clubs, like it or not, are an anachronism in the world of high and complex finance.

“I’ve said it - and I’ll keep saying it until we get there - this club has got to demutualise,” added Graves, who predicted at least another eight counties would then follow suit. “We cannot be in a position of running out of money ever again.

“There aren’t many idiots like me sat around who keep sticking their money in to keep things afloat. A members’ club is not sustainable in the modern age, with all the investment you need and in the grounds to keep them going. You can’t keep relying on the ECB to give you money either.

“I want our members to be shareholders, too. I’ve said that. They will be able to buy shares in the new company. But this club needs proper finance going forward, it cannot live on scraps, and the only way you can do that is by having a vehicle, a limited company, where people can properly invest.”

Graves made no apology for seeking to secure the 50 per cent turnout through the voting rights opt-in.

“The problem we have is – and it sounds horrible saying it – is we’ve got a lot of members who perhaps don’t read all the various documentation, and so on, who are pretty apathetic when it comes to this stuff.

“I don’t want to upset anybody. We’d love everybody to vote. We’re looking to do roadshows around Yorkshire, to talk to the members about demutualisation and all the benefits.

“I think the club made a mistake by passing voting membership to every category we’ve got. I don’t think that’s right. I know other counties have had the same discussions.

"From my point of view, it’s trying to get to the people who really care - we need to listen to them.”