ECB Review of Yorkshire’s £1.75m Payment to CEO’s Company
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is set to review a payment of £1.75 million made by Yorkshire County Cricket Club to a company controlled by their chief executive, Sanjay Patel, for consultancy services related to the sale of the Hundred franchise.
Yorkshire’s 2025 financial accounts, circulated to members last month, reveal that Patel’s company, SMP73 Ltd, received a commission of £1.75 million in the previous year for "corporate broker services in connection with the sale of Northern Superchargers Limited." Patel, who was instrumental in developing the Hundred during his prior role at the ECB, was among a select group of executives awarded bonuses totaling £2.1 million in 2022.
The ECB was reportedly alerted last week to the payment made by Yorkshire in 2025 and has decided to review the transaction to assess whether any regulatory breaches occurred. While no formal investigation has been initiated, the ECB may refer the matter to the Cricket Discipline Commission, the regulatory body overseeing governance and discipline in the sport.
Details of the Hundred Sale and Yorkshire’s Financial Position
Yorkshire received approximately £60 million from the £100 million sale of Northern Superchargers to the Indian media conglomerate, the Sun Group, last year. As the only county to sell their entire Hundred franchise, Yorkshire earned about £40 million from selling their 51% stake and an additional £20 million from their share of the 49% stake sold by the ECB. The remaining proceeds were distributed among non-Hundred counties and the broader cricket community.
Yorkshire’s accounts specify that SMP73’s consultancy work concluded "prior to his [Patel’s] appointment as the club’s chief executive officer" in October 2025. However, Patel had already been influential at Headingley for 18 months before this, having been appointed a non-executive director in February 2024 and interim chief executive in September 2024.
The accounts further confirm that SMP73, with Patel as its sole director, was engaged by Yorkshire in 2025. Companies House records indicate Patel owns over 75% of SMP73’s shares and holds more than 75% of its voting rights.
Yorkshire sources stated that Patel was not employed by the club when the payment arrangements were made. They added that Patel was engaged as a consultant with a defined remit, including brokering the sale of the Hundred franchise, with the £100 million valuation significantly exceeding the targets required to trigger the commission payment.
Public Disclosure and Financial Context
Following the publication of Yorkshire’s accounts last month, details of the payment were highlighted in a Substack post by cricket finance blogger Richard Bentley.
Yorkshire has received larger dividends from the Hundred sale than any other county, partly due to their decision to sell their 51% stake and also because the ECB’s financial distribution model benefits counties carrying substantial debts. Prior to the Hundred auction, Yorkshire owed more than £25 million to the family trust of their chair, Colin Graves, a debt which has now been fully repaid.
Due to these debts and cash flow challenges, Yorkshire faced the threat of bankruptcy in recent years. Without central funding advanced by the ECB, the club would have been unable to pay players towards the end of the 2024 domestic season.
Disciplinary Issues at Yorkshire
In addition to financial difficulties, Yorkshire has experienced disciplinary problems. The club was fined £400,000 and deducted 35 points in the County Championship three years ago after being found guilty of racism and discrimination related to complaints made by former spin bowler Azeem Rafiq.
Furthermore, former deputy chair Phillip Hodson was fined £1,000 and reprimanded by the ECB’s cricket discipline panel last summer after jokes made during an after-dinner speech in Scarborough were found to breach anti-discrimination regulations. As Hodson had left the club by then, Yorkshire was not charged.
Sanjay Patel’s Background and Role
Before joining Yorkshire, Patel was a senior executive at the ECB for nine years. As the ECB’s chief commercial officer, he was one of the architects of the Hundred and served as the competition’s first managing director for nearly five years starting in 2019.
Patel was among a small group of executives who received bonuses totaling approximately £2.1 million in 2022. At the time, the ECB stated the payout was not directly linked to the Hundred but was intended as "a retention tool for key senior leaders."
