Yorkshire CCC owe big debt to the board, says Martyn Moxon

The county’s director of cricket praised the likes of chief executive Mark Arthur and chairman Steve Denison for prioritising cricket in spite of the club’s financial position.

The strategy has been rewarded with back-to-back County Championships and means that Yorkshire are tackling their finances from a position of on-field strength.

Moxon admitted it would have been easy for the club to go the other way and said Yorkshire have a clear plan to reduce their liabilities after refinancing.

He said: “The bottom line is that we’re here to be successful on the field, and the club have backed us 100 per cent.

“The board have invested in the playing staff so, hopefully, we can maintain our success and be competitive on all fronts.

“Under the circumstances, it would have been easy to say, ‘Oh well, we can’t afford it. We’ve got to cut the playing staff’. But that hasn’t happened, and it’s a credit to the club’s hierarchy.”

Yorkshire have re-signed New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson and have snapped up promising Australian batsman Travis Head. They also pulled off a major transfer coup by recruiting England star David Willey from Northants.

Moxon, who also sits on the Yorkshire board, appreciates the delicate balance the club are trying to strike between on-and-off-field stability.

He is fortunate to have, in Arthur, a chief executive who is also a cricket lover.

“It’s great for us as coaches to get that sort of backing because not every club would do that,” said Moxon. “I think we’re getting the balance right, albeit we have to be careful what we spend and every penny counts.

“We’re trying to develop the Headingley ground and maintain our international status, while at the same time trying to maintain a squad that is good to watch and successful.

“We have an expensive squad – to provide the amount of England players that we do and still be competitive is expensive – but we’re a cricket club first and foremost.”

Yorkshire’s debt remains a major problem and is set to rise in the short term with the construction of the new Football Stand.

The club must find circa £15m – around half of which they hope to raise through grants – to finance a structure that will help guarantee international cricket.

However, the club recently refinanced their debts to reduce annual interest by almost £300,000 and have no scheduled capital repayments until 2019.

They also insist they are in a stronger position financially than they have been for some time after announcing a profit after tax of £368,000 for 2015, their first annual profit for six years.

“The refinancing was a really big thing for the club,” said Moxon. “It’s a manageable repayment schedule now, so we can hopefully keep that side of things on an even keel but, at the same time, still invest in the playing staff.

“The important thing is that there is a clear plan going forward with regard to the finances.

“The people involved have worked extremely hard to renegotiate the debt so that it’s a manageable situation, we’ve got the cash flow we need and we’ve got repayments that we can cope with.”

However, Moxon added that Yorkshire can take nothing for granted.

“There’s been massive strides, I reckon, over the last 12 months, but there’s a lot of work still to be done,” he said.

“The debt’s there and we can’t get away from that, but there is a clear agreement with the parties that we owe money to as to how we’re going to do things.

“The bottom line is that we have to live within our means and the budgets that are set have to be stuck to rigidly, otherwise we will be in trouble.

“But I’m confident in the people that we’ve got at the helm; they understand the situation and they’re experienced in managing it.”

Yorkshire have not shied away from signing top players, but their greatest success recently has been developing so many home-grown cricketers.

“What we’ve got one eye on now is introducing the next generation so that when the very good senior players that we’ve got at the minute come towards the end of their careers, we’ve got that next generation ready,” said Moxon.

“That’s why someone like Josh Shaw has gone to Gloucestershire on loan, for example, to get some first-team cricket now so that, hopefully, when we need him he’ll be ready.

“That’s going to be the challenge in the next few years – to make sure that we have that smooth transition from the current crop of senior players to the next generation.

“We want to keep bringing the young lads through.”

England T20 report: Page 23.