Tony Vann backs Colin Graves's plan to demutualise Yorkshire CCC

So when Vann argues that “demutualisation is clearly the way forward”, which would change the club’s status from a member-owned organisation to a private company, it is not a position he has come to lightly.

On the contrary, he believes that “the world has moved on and that Yorkshire must move with it”, with any change in status unlocking the door to private investment for a club some £22m in debt.

Colin Graves, the Yorkshire chair, to whose family trust is owed most of that debt, recently wrote to the members to say that demutualisation “appears essential”.

Although some criticism has attended the manner in which events have unfolded, with Graves having stated that there were no plans to demutualise in the run-up to his return as chair in February, albeit insisting that “nothing can be ruled out in future” in sport’s “changing and challenging arena”, the point as to whether it is a good idea or not is separate.

For Vann, no stranger to a good debate having fought the corner of Sir Geoffrey Boycott in the 1980s, members’ clubs are now an anachronism. He argues that so long as members’ rights are protected - which Graves has insisted they will be - demutualisation brings obvious advantages.

“I’m very supportive of Colin Graves’s attempts to move forward, and to demutualise clearly is the way forward,” said Vann.

“We have three counties already who have gone that way, Durham, Hampshire and Northants, and they seem to be making a success of it. The key is that you can then access money in the equity investment market.

“If you look at the IPL, it is massively successful; the money that is coming into those franchises, and the crowds, are phenomenal. They’re doing something right, and we have to learn from that.”

Vann is a passionate advocate of County Championship cricket. In order for it to survive, however, he believes that a pragmatic approach is needed financially, especially at a club like Yorkshire, which has been hollowed out by the racism affair.

“I’m still a four-day man, but sometimes in life you have to accept the other side of the coin to get your side of the coin to work,” he added.

“This is a way in which we can raise some money, and there’s no doubt, with the mess that the club got into under the previous regime, losing something like £10m in just over two years, we need to go forward.

“We can’t expect Colin and Phillip (Hodson, deputy chair) to keep putting the odd million in here and there to keep us up-to-date.

“We need to do something more substantial to raise the money.”

As the prospect of demutualisation draws ever closer, not just at Yorkshire but throughout the county game, Vann believes the club is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by private investment.

Despite the unprecedented problems at Headingley of late, the “brand” remains strong throughout the world, with Yorkshire synonymous with the summer game.

“The very fact you’ve got two colossal names in Headingley and Yorkshire is key, I think, to the Indian market in particular,” said Vann.

“There may be interest also from America, with them taking part in the T20 World Cup for the first time at present, and Saudi Arabia has also been talked about.

“But the IPL, I think, is the key. That’s where we’ll get some interested parties.”

For demutualisation to prevail, 75 per cent of the Yorkshire members must vote in favour from a minimum turnout of 50 per cent.

That latter figure promises to be the hardest to achieve, with recent meetings such as AGMs and EGMs revealing the extent of the apathy that seemingly prevails.

“If you look at the recent AGM as an example, of the seven or eight individual resolutions, nobody got more than 240 votes for any item with a handful against, and that’s with 6,000 members, so, to me, the membership aren’t that concerned about what’s going on in the club,” said Vann.

“In the old days, when I stood for committee, I remember beating Brian Close by something like 550 to 450. That’s 1,000 people who were interested then.

“These days, it’s peanuts, and that tells you where the members’ loyalties lie now. They want to see the side successful, of course they do, and it’s really that simple.

“The word I would use when it comes to the other stuff is ‘apathetic’. The proof is in the pudding. What is 240 members out of 6,000 as a percentage? Single figures.”

Vann believes that as long as members’ rights are protected, there is no need to fear the winds of change. He also has absolute confidence in Graves.

“I’m backing Colin’s experience. He’s been in the game for a long while now, both with us and the ECB, and I’m backing his knowledge and experience.

“He’s a top man, an honest man, and he gives his time to the club for nowt.

“As long as we guarantee the members their rights - i.e., they’re a season-ticket holder, they can sit on the ground where they want, they get preferential for buying tickets for the Test matches - these are the things that really matter to the members at the end of the day.

“They want to watch cricket, they’re not into the politics of it all, and after the mismanagement of Patel (Lord Kamlesh, the former chair) they just want the club to be run correctly.”