FORMER Yorkshire and England bowler Bob Appleyard is urging the county's 9,000 members to vote for a first-past-the-post system of electing the committee when the contentious subject is debated at next Saturday's annual meeting at Headingley.

Yorkshire have advised members to vote against the resolution and stick with the present district system, but Appleyard believes only by changing to first-past-the-post can the club attract the sort of businessmen required to give it a real financial boost.

The move, however, is opposed by Eric Houseman and Bob Hilliam, the representatives for the York, Malton, Harrogate and Scarborough areas.

Appleyard, an honorary life member of Yorkshire and a former cricket chairman, said he wanted to see the same sort of people attracted to the committee that had formed the Friends of Park Avenue and had served on the Charitable Youth Trust which raised £364,000 for the Sir Leonard Hutton Foundation Appeal.

"Without the Friends, Bradford Park Avenue would not now be a thriving ground and headquarters of the Universities' Centre of Excellence and without the Trust hundreds of youngsters around the county would not be enjoying cricket coaching during the summer," said Appleyard

"It is only by getting people who have been highly successful in business on to the committee that Yorkshire can hope to raise money for commercial development.

"If business people do not come forward in this way then the next step may have to be for Yorkshire to become a plc."

In advising members not to vote for the resolution, Yorkshire state that since the reorganisation of the committee nine years ago there has been a period of great unity within the club, but Appleyard disputes several of the claims.

"They say the first overseas player was signed under the new 12-strong committee and it was also responsible for setting up the Yorkshire Academy, but both these decisions were taken by the old-style committee of 23 elected members," said Appleyard.

"The new committee started out in 1993 but the Academy began at Bradford Park Avenue in May 1989, and even had an Inter-City train named after it, while the decision on an overseas player was taken in 1991.

"If Yorkshire members take the club's claims as gospel and are persuaded not to vote for the first-past-the-post system then they may feel they have been misled."

The first-past-the-post resolution is being proposed by former committee representative Philip Akroyd and seconded by Bradford member Geoff Holmes.

If it wins a straight majority, Yorkshire will be forced to draw up a rule change which will then require a two-thirds majority at next year's annual meeting for the district system of election to be abolished in favour of first-past-the-post.

Updated: 11:26 Saturday, March 16, 2002