Leeds Rhinos supremo gives his backing to Colin Graves’s Yorkshire CCC takeover bid

As Graves prepares to return to the Yorkshire hotseat, pending the approval of the club’s members at an extraordinary general meeting on February 2, Caddick lent his support to a man whose time at Yorkshire coincided with parts of the racism crisis.

Adamant that the return of Graves would once more stabilise the club’s future, with Yorkshire battling debts and borrowings of circa £22m, Caddick said: “Colin originally stepped in when YCCC was in a desperate financial situation and brought his business acumen to Headingley.

“He left the club in a very healthy financial position, having injected £20m of his family trust money into the cricket business.

“Nearly 20 years ago, he negotiated the purchase of the ground for the members with Leeds CF&A Co Ltd and worked in partnership with ourselves to deliver the total redevelopment of the whole stadium, ensuring for the city of Leeds that over 130 years of sporting history will continue.”

Yorkshire have gone back to Graves after a lengthy search for a refinancing partner.

The club has been hollowed out financially due to the crisis and, ultimately, there were no takers apart from a man whose family trust is owed by the club some £16m.

“Professional sport in this country is facing unprecedented challenges as a repercussion of the global pandemic,” reflected Caddick.

“This requires individuals to step up and give their support, and I know that Yorkshire CCC have spoken about an exhaustive global search for potential financial backing.

“Whilst the final decision lies with the Yorkshire members, we look forward to working with the future management team at Yorkshire CCC to build a successful relationship and secure the success of both cricket and rugby at Headingley.”

Caddick, 73, and Graves, 75, are in many ways similar - tough, uncompromising individuals with enviable track records in business.

Graves has certainly needed all of that toughness in recent days, having come under fire from politicians, the charity Sporting Equals, sections of the media and even the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) select committee, in front of which he is expected to appear next month.

Dame Caroline Dinenage, the CMS chair, claimed on Thursday that Graves’s return could “undermine progress” in fighting racism, thereby potentially pre-judging her own hearing in a similar way to when Julian Knight MP, her predecessor, did when citing “endemic racism” at Yorkshire before a question had been posed at the first parliamentary hearing into the affair in 2021.

Clive Efford MP, another member of that select committee, has also forejudged Graves’s return to be “a disaster”.

On Thursday, Graves apologised “personally and unreservedly” to anyone who has suffered discrimination at Yorkshire, insisting that “the mistakes of the past must be acknowledged and acted upon”.