Yorkshire’s departing chief executive Stewart Regan insists he is leaving the club having done “all that I wanted to do”.

The 46-year-old will exit Headingley in September after four and half years to take up a similar position at the Scottish Football Association.

However, his decision to leave the club comes less than a week after the county admitted they need to save money, when it was revealed that poor tickets sales for the Pakistan v Australia game had plunged the club further into debt.

“That has taken some of the gloss off my time at Yorkshire,” admitted Regan, who says up to £750,000 of ticket revenue was lost because of the low crowds at the neutral test match.

“We were a little bit disappointed with the attendances and it is frustrating to be leaving with the current cashflow problems.”

Yorkshire’s financial position is not thought to be the reason for his departure though, with many counties facing financial difficulties in the current economic climate.

“I have acheived what I wanted to do when I came to Yorkshire in 2006,” added Regan.

“My aim was to keep Test cricket at Headingley and build a succesful side – I believe that when I leave both of those things will be in place.”

Since taking over, Regan, who joined from the Football League, has overseen extensive redevelopment of the stadium as well as being involved in the county’s close relationship with Leeds Metropolitan University.

However, it seems the offer of returing to football has proved too much for him, and he will take on his new role on October 5.

Regan’s position at Yorkshire will now be filled by the club’s chairman Colin Graves for at least the next six months.

Graves, the founder of the Dunnington-based supermarket chain, Costcutter, insists the county’s current financial troubles will be overcome.

“I have told my board colleagues that I intend to take the role of executive chairman for a period of at least half a year after Stewart’s departure,” said Graves.

“Much has been said of the club’s cashflow problems but this is a temporary blip and we will recover with the support of our partners to continue building for the future.”

The club’s position off the field is certainly very different to the one on the pitch.

As well as being top of the LV=County Championship division one table with only five games to go, they also head their group in the ECB 40-over competition after five straight wins.

Today they face Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, with captain Andrew Gale claiming it is “too early” to predict how many of the group games the Tykes will need to win to qualify for the semi-finals.

Only the top placed side in each group is guaranteed a place in the final four, but a win today, and then one in Holland at the weekend, would put Yorkshire in a very strong position.

They will go into the clash in the west country without Tim Bresnan though – after he was called up as a late replacement to the England squad for the first test with Pakistan.

Bresnan is included in the 12-man party for today’s match at Trent Bridge, because fellow Yorkshire paceman Ajmal Shahzad has had to withdraw from the squad through an ankle injury.