Deal approved at Yorkshire Cricket to see Colin Graves a step closer to returning

Members at Yorkshire County Cricket Club have approved a deal which could see Colin Graves takeover as chairman.

88.3% of members were in favour of it.

It comes as the club have been looking for new investment for a while now - and that's taken them back to the man who served as Chair between 2012 and 2015.

But Graves' return would be controversial, with the racism scandal partially taking place during his first stint in charge.

He issued a statement last month apologising to anyone at Yorkshire who had experienced it.

The board had already recommended a loan offer from him, with almost £15million owed to the Graves family trust and other potential investors no longer at the table.

A statement from the club said:

"Members vote in favour of amendments to rules relating to Colin Graves’ financing proposal

"The Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) is pleased to announce that the special resolution voted on at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).

"The Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) is pleased to announce that the special resolution voted on at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held in the Long Room at Headingley, on Friday, 2 February, 2024 was passed.

"One special resolution was voted on during the meeting, with the resolution passed by members. The result of the vote for the special resolution to make a number of changes to the rules of the Club required in relation to a refinancing proposal from Colin Graves as set out in the notice of the was announced, with members voting in favour of the rule changes.

"The results of the voting are below:

• Total number of votes cast in favour of the resolution: 746

• Total number of votes cast against the resolution: 99

• The proportion of the total number of votes case in favour 88.3%

• The total number of invalid forms of proxy or spoilt voting forms (each of which have been excluded from the calculation of votes cast) 48."

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