TO hire a successful businessman to come into a failing company and turn it around would cost a small fortune - but Yorkshire CCC have managed to get their own Sir John Harvey-Jones for nothing.

Using tried and tested strategies from his 'day job' as the head of the Costcutter Supermarket chain, York-based businessman Colin Graves has taken up the mantle of 'The Troubleshooter' to help stop the rot at the ailing former county champions - who were relegated at the end of the season to add to their financial woes.

And although Graves' work to turn the club around from haemorrhaging money - by the time everything is paid for Yorkshire will have an overdraft of £6.5million - to a profit-making organisation has only just begun, the spectre of financial gloom appears to be lifting from Headingley.

Already the club shop - which was subject to some of the heavy losses - has liquidated £160,000-worth of stock, and the business structures planned by Graves should also see an improvement the off-field running of the Tykes.

But for Graves, who has had a grassroots up-bringing in life off the cricket square with Dunnington, his only rewards will be to see the club owning the cricketing side of Headingley and back in control of its destiny.

And it is that 'payment' future chief executives and Yorkshire members will have to get used to - with the days of expenses and hospitality now a thing of the past.

And Yorkshire have today taken a step towards bringing more money into the club by increasing next season's subscriptions.

"About 75 per cent of my time is spent with Yorkshire," said Graves. "I will be going out to the World Cup next year, but I am paying for that myself.

"I'm not getting paid for this - I've not received a penny in payment, not even for expenses. I am paying for everything out of my own pocket. When we got to Lord's, I even bought my own tickets for the match.

"I have always done business this way and from now on, so will Yorkshire.

"Part of the problems that have affected the club was the fact there was a lot of hospitality on the past - but there won't be any more. It is for the good of the county.

"People won't get the chance to because if we can own our own ground then the criteria will be in place to ensure they won't get the opportunity.

"Accounts will also be assessed on monthly basis to ensure everything is running smoothly."

The end of a strange season on the field - Yorkshire were crowned C&G Trophy champions, but relegated from the top-flight of the Frizzell County Championship - has left Graves was much work over the winter months.

"When it comes to September, people seem to think cricket just stops, but it doesn't," said Graves. "There is lots here to do. We need to implement new systems and a new structure for the accounts, we are looking at the ticketing arrangement for the Test matches with the ECB... it is a big job.

"I've got plans for every month - the key one being that we need to get a business structure in place.

"Hopefully we can get the Test ticketing situation sorted out so we can start selling tickets in the next few weeks - something we've never done before.

"I always knew it would be three to six months off hard graft, but after that it will get easier."

With hefty debts and an overdraft that has been extended by the banks, Graves knows the club cannot afford to slip further into the red.

"We will have an overdraft of £6.5million when everything is paid for," he said. "And we have to make sure that the interest, which is about £300,000, can be paid at the very least.

"At least then we are not going backwards, but standing still. That is paramount."

Also paramount to Graves, who has a one-year tenure in the Headingley hot-seat, is to oversee Yorkshire purchasing the ground to help stabilise the club's future.

"I'm chief executive for a year," added Graves. "The bank have asked for that and we will review it after that year. I don't see this as a long-term position.

"I still want to be involved with the club - I want to be involved in buying the ground, and that could happen in the next two years."

While off the field, Graves is working around the clock to get Yorkshire off the canvas, he can do little about the knockout blows they received on the field.

But Graves' message to the squad of the fallen champions is simple: "They got us into division two so they can get us out of it."

And with impressive Australian batsman Matthew Elliott set to return to the club next season - barring international commitments - who would bet against Yorkshire enjoying a revival on the field as well as off it.

Updated: 12:00 Wednesday, October 30, 2002