Keith Moss yesterday stood down as chairman of Yorkshire County Cricket Club after a meeting convened to discuss the club's financial predicament.

Chief executive Chris Hassell revealed the club have been given approval in principle for an overdraft extension beyond the current limit set by club rules of £5m by bankers at HSBC, on the condition that a four-man oversteering group be appointed.

One of the "gang of four" is Middlesbrough-born chartered accountant Brian Bouttell, a former senior partner with KPMG who was once at their Darlington office and between 1983-85 was financial director of Darlington Football Club.

Yorkshire president Robin Smith heads the group which also consists of new club chairman, Geoff Cope, the former Yorkshire and England off-spinner, and Colin Graves, managing director of the York-based Costcutter Supermarkets Group.

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 the committee had invested all management authority in the group whose first priority would be directed at implementing a turnover plan for the £6m which the club owed.

But he issued a stark warning that if they were to succeed, Yorkshire members at the EGM 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 see that the clear option facing them is to vote for the resolution because with £6m of debts to clear there is no other choice."

The rule change, however, 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.

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 information and ground development costs have been between £1.5m-£2m more than we anticipated."