YORKSHIRE’S cricket captain has led the protests over a New Year honours snub for the man responsible for bringing the Tour De France to the county.

The event, which brought the world’s greatest cyclists to Yorkshire over three days in July, saw millions of people line the route and boosted the local economy by more than £100m.

Gary Verity, chief executive of tourism agency Welcome To Yorkshire, was one of the key architects of the event and the man who convinced Tour De France chiefs to opt for Northern England over several more high profile European destinations. He was thought by many to be a certainty for an honour before they were announced on Tuesday evening.

However, Mr Verity was not among those from the region who received knighthoods, MBEs and CBEs.

Yorkshire Cricket Club captain Andrew Gale led the storm of protest, taking to Twitter to voice his disapproval.

“Can someone tell me how @GaryVerity hasn’t got an MBE? Brought and organised one of the best sporting events the country’s ever seen?!” he wrote.