Yorkshire at 150: Plenty of reasons for Graves to be cheerful in 2013

Graves, the club’s executive chairman, said there was no reason they could not claim English cricket’s biggest prize this year.

Yorkshire have not won the Championship since 2001 – the last of their 30 outright titles.

Another Championship is long overdue and Graves believes it could happen this year.

“We’ve got a good young side and I think we have as much chance of winning it as any one of the other clubs,” said Graves, the multi-millionaire founder of the Costcutter supermarket chain whose personal fortune bankrolls the club.

“In my opinion, we’ve got as strong a team as we’ve had for many years, and, on paper, there’s no reason why we can’t win the trophy in our anniversary year.

“It’s not going to be easy, and you can’t predict anything in cricket, but we’ve made two excellent signings in Liam Plunkett and Jack Brooks, who will add strength in depth to our bowling department.

“We’re happy with our batting and believe we’ve got the players here who can make an impression going forward.”

Yorkshire served notice of their potential by winning promotion last summer in Jason Gillespie’s first season as coach – one year after the pain of relegation.

It revealed the character in the side ahead of a summer that will once again test their credentials.

Off the field, Graves believes Yorkshire are also making progress going into their landmark year.

The club are still several million pounds in debt, but Graves insisted their position is secure.

“We’ve still got a debt to pay off, but that will be done by 2023,” he added.

“The financial position is stable and everything is starting to come to fruition.

“In my opinion, we’re in a good position both playing-wise and financially at this moment in time.

“Now we can get on with enjoying our anniversary celebrations.”

Having spent several million pounds on ground improvements in recent years, Yorkshire are moving closer towards achieving their next objective – the installation of permanent floodlights at Headingley Carnegie.

Yorkshire have applied for planning permission for the £1m project, with a decision expected sometime next month.

“If we get that planning permission, then it will be all systems go for us,” said Graves.

“That would enable us to start erecting them at the end of the season, probably in September, because there is such a lot of work to be done in terms of the excavation that it would be impractical to do it while the season is actually going on.

“Beyond that, we still want to put a canopy on top of the West Stand, and, at some point in the future, to redevelop the Rugby Stand.

“That’s a bit of a way off at the moment but we’re not resting on our laurels because we want to improve Headingley as much as possible.”

Graves, who added that new players’ balconies will be installed at Headingley in time for the new season, said he was greatly looking forward to the anniversary celebrations.

It will be a proud moment for him as the biggest cricket club in the world prepares to party.

“We’ve got events going on throughout the year and it’s going to be a fantastic occasion,” he said.

“It’s a very big time in Yorkshire’s history and we are really looking forward to it.

“A lot of people have put in a lot of hard work to make sure the anniversary goes off smoothly.

“Our president, Geoffrey Boycott, and his wife, Rachael, have done a fantastic job and I’m sure it will be a great success.”

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