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The England and Wales Cricket Board is readying to reappraisal a costs of £1.75m from Yorkshire to a institution controlled by their main executive, Sanjay Patel, for consultancy activity relating to nan Hundred sale.
The club’s 2025 accounts, which were circulated to members past month, show that Patel’s institution SMP73 Ltd received a committee of £1.75m past twelvemonth for “corporate agent services successful relationship pinch nan waste of Northern Superchargers Limited”. Patel was 1 of nan cardinal architects of nan Hundred successful his erstwhile domiciled astatine nan ECB and was among a mini group of executives who received bonuses worthy a mixed £2.1m successful 2022.
The ECB is understood to person been alerted past week to nan costs from Yorkshire, which was made past year, and has decided to reappraisal it to find if immoderate regulations were breached. A general investigation has not been launched astatine this stage, but nan ECB could determine to mention nan matter to nan Cricket Regulator, nan assemblage that polices governance and subject crossed nan sport.
Yorkshire received astir £60m from nan £100m waste of Northern Superchargers to nan Indian media conglomerate nan Sun Group past year, arsenic nan only region to waste each of their Hundred franchise. The nine banked astir £40m from trading their 51% liking successful nan franchise and different £20m from their stock of nan 49% liking sold by nan ECB, pinch nan remainder distributed to non-Hundred counties and nan wider game.
Yorkshire’s accounts authorities that SMP73’s activity for nan nine concluded “prior to his [Patel’s] assignment arsenic nan club’s main executive officer” successful October 2025, but nan 53-year-old had already been an influential fig astatine Headingley for 18 months by that stage, having been made a nonexecutive head successful February 2024 and subsequently appointed interim main executive successful September 2024.
The accounts besides corroborate that SMP73, whose sole head is Patel, were engaged by Yorkshire successful 2025. Records astatine Companies House show he besides owns much than 75% of SMP73’s shares and has much than 75% of its voting rights.
Yorkshire sources said that Patel was not employed by them erstwhile nan arrangements relating to nan costs were entered into. They added that Patel was engaged arsenic a advisor pinch a strict remit, which included brokering nan waste of nan Hundred franchise, pinch nan £100m valuation acold exceeding nan targets required to trigger nan committee payment.
After Yorkshire’s accounts were published past period specifications of nan costs were identified successful a Substack station from nan cricket finance blogger Richard Bentley.
Yorkshire person received larger dividends from nan Hundred waste than immoderate different county, partially owed to nan club’s determination to waste their 51% stake, but besides because nan position of nan ECB’s financial distribution use counties carrying ample debts. Before nan Hundred auction nan nine owed much than £25m to nan family spot of their chair, Colin Graves, which has now been repaid successful full.
As a consequence of specified debts and cashflow problems Yorkshire person faced nan threat of bankruptcy successful caller years and without nan ECB advancing nan nine cardinal backing would person been incapable to salary their players towards nan extremity of nan 2024 home season.
In summation to financial difficulties, Yorkshire person knowledgeable disciplinary problems and were fined £400,000 and handed a 48-point deduction successful nan County Championship 3 years agone aft being recovered blameworthy of racism and favoritism successful narration to complaints made by their erstwhile rotation bowler Azeem Rafiq.
In summation nan erstwhile lawman chair Phillip Hodson was fined £1,000 and fixed a reprimand by nan ECB’s cricket subject sheet past summertime aft jokes made astatine an after-dinner reside successful Scarborough were recovered to person breached anti-discrimination regulations. As Hodson had near nan club, however, Yorkshire were not charged.
Before joining Yorkshire, Patel was a elder executive astatine nan ECB, wherever he spent 9 years. As nan ECB’s main commercialized officer, Patel was 1 of nan architects of nan Hundred, and served arsenic nan caller competition’s first managing head for almost 5 years from 2019.
Patel was 1 of a mini group of executives who received bonuses of astir £2.1m successful 2022, though nan ECB said astatine nan clip that nan payout was not straight linked to nan Hundred, describing it arsenic “a retention instrumentality for cardinal elder leaders”.
The ECB declined to comment.
