The "under new management" signs were out at Headingley today after the setting up of a new Yorkshire management team comprised of four people who are now responsible for running the debt-ridden club and charged with putting it back on its feet within the next six to 12 months.

One of the "gang of four" is former Yorkshire and England off-spinner Geoff Cope, who lives at Tranmere Park, near Guiseley.

As forecast in yesterday's Telegraph and Argus, Cope has taken over as club chairman from Keith Moss who left the general committee meeting at Headingley yesterday after he had been stripped of office and the new management group unanimously voted in - although several members voiced their support for Moss before he insisted on stepping down.

Yorkshire president Robin Smith heads the group which also consists of Colin Graves, chairman and managing director of the York-based Costcutter Supermarkets Group, and Middlesbrough-born chartered accountant Brian Bouttell, who lives in Ilkley and is a former senior partner with KPMG.

Cope and Graves are full-time appointments with Graves effectively taking over the chief executive's role from Chris Hassell who is due to retire in November.

Smith said that if the group were to succeed, Yorkshire members at the extraordinary general meeting on August 29 would have to approve the rule change which will increase the club's borrowing ceiling from £5m to £10m.

"If the members were to vote down the resolution then there is simply no recovery plan and we would be bankrupt," said Smith.

"I am confident, however, that they will understand the issues and see how imperative it is to

vote the resolution through. There is no reason why the members should want to see the club

go down if the bankers want it to stay and I am sure that more than two-thirds of them will

get the message.

The rule change resolution requires a two-thirds majority to go through and many members

may already have cast their vote by ballot without realising the seriousness of the situation if

they say 'no'.

Smith said that a consequence of the new structure was that all of the club's

sub-committees, with the exception of the cricket sub-committee, had been stood down and

all their powers had been invested in the new management group.

"At the centre of everything we do is the success of Yorkshire County Cricket Club on the

field," he said.

Asked if he felt Moss had been unfairly ousted, Smith said: "The responsibility for what has

happened rests with the committee and the chairman of the committee.

"It is necessary for us to send a very clear message to everyone that the place is under new

management and Keith Moss has co-operated very responsibly."

But Moss said as he left Headingley: "I do feel I have been made a scapegoat but it has

been a good meeting by Yorkshire's standards.

"One of the problems has been that our financial people have failed to give the banks the

correct financial information and ground development costs have been between £1.5m-£2m

more than we anticipated.

"We have a greatly enhanced ground but I think our team of professional advisers should

look at their part in the scheme of things."

Moss said he had received incredible backing from a lot of members and he had received

messages of support from ECB chairman, Lord MacLaurin, and Leeds CFAC boss, Paul

Caddick, with whom he had been closely involved in talks over Headingley's redevelopment.