Election meets rules, say Yorkshire CCC, as Geoffrey Boycott battle takes fresh twist

YORKSHIRE last night responded to claims from the Geoffrey Boycott camp that they are acting unlawfully in their efforts to prevent him from returning to the club's board.
Geoffrey Boycott. .Geoffrey Boycott. .
Geoffrey Boycott. .

The club convened an emergency meeting at Headingley to discuss correspondence from Malcolm Guy.

In it, Guy – the Yorkshire member who organised the 30 nominations necessary for Boycott to stand – challenged the validity of the forthcoming election.

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Guy believes there should not even be a members’ ballot and that Boycott should be returned unopposed.

Trouble brewing at Headingley.Trouble brewing at Headingley.
Trouble brewing at Headingley.

He claims that club rules state that “an election will only be held when the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies”, with four people standing and five places available, and highlighted what he said are discrepancies relating to the ballot papers and their appropriate return.

In response, Yorkshire staged an emergency meeting of their nominations committee chaired by board member Robin Smith and also comprising club president Dickie Bird, chairman Steve Denison and club secretary Paul Hudson.

The committee dismissed the claims and issued the following statement:

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“The Nominations Committee is satisfied that the elections to the board are being conducted lawfully in accordance with the club’s rules.

Trouble brewing at Headingley.Trouble brewing at Headingley.
Trouble brewing at Headingley.

“Specifically: Rule 19.10 and 19.12 apply when the number of candidates, if all were elected, would cause the board’s upper limit to be exceeded. This is not the case in these elections.

“Rule 19.1 governs elections to the board. It is the established practice of the Club, which has the approval of the Nominations Committee, to give members the opportunity to vote “for” or “against” each nominee.

“This reflects the provision in Rule 18 for a maximum and minimum number of board members. There can therefore be no vacancies as such in board elections.

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“Each member has been given all the information they need to make a decision and they have been given the opportunity to vote “for” or “against” each nomination.”

Guy said the Boycott camp had already taken informal legal advice and may pursue formal action.

The row is dominating the build-up to the new season, which starts for Yorkshire a fortnight on Sunday when they play MCC in Abu Dhabi.

The board appointments will be announced at the annual meeting on March 26, and Yorkshire are recommending that members support three candidates in a postal ballot – chief executive Mark Arthur, Robin Smith (who is up for re-election), and businessman Sir Gary Verity.

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They are urging them not to vote for Boycott, who has turned down an offer to become Yorkshire’s first “global ambassador”.

Earlier this week, Denison wrote to members outlining why Yorkshire do not want them to support Boycott.

He referred to the potentially “destabilising” influence that could “disrupt” a successful side, with Yorkshire having won back-to-back County Championships.

Boycott responded by revealing that he specifically told Yorkshire he has “no intention of getting involved in the cricket”, and that he wants only to fight for members’ interests as Yorkshire battle debts of £20m-plus.

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Boycott claimed those debts are “killing the club” and asked what Yorkshire “are afraid of” if he rejoins a board he last served in 2012, saying he would be part of “a democracy”.

For his part, Guy believes Boycott should have a voice in the corridors of power due to Yorkshire’s “mismanagement”.

“I think Geoffrey should be on the board,” he said.

“Like me, he hates being deceived, and we’ve been deceived by this board, who’ve pretended to run the club as a members’ club, when, in fact, they’ve given control to the Graves family trusts, which are now owed £18.9m of the £24m debt.

“They (the club) will never, ever be able to pay the interest on the loan without borrowing more, never mind this fantasy that they’ll start paying down the capital, so one has to ask, how are they going to get out of this mess?

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“Yorkshire cricket club is currently controlled by the Graves family trusts, and we are doing all this on the principle that we object strongly to the mismanagement of the club, both under Colin Graves’s leadership and now under the current chairman.”

Members will be asked to approve a rule change at this year’s AGM that would give the Graves family trusts (which are independent of the England and Wales Cricket Board chairman himself) power to veto board appointments as principal lender under the terms of recently refinanced loans.

Guy fears Boycott could thus potentially be blocked anyway, saying: “It’s no longer a members’ club.

“It’s a lenders’ club.”

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