Colin Graves, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, opted to leave the room when the host venues for major matches were signed off for 2020 to 2024, with his former county Yorkshire emerging among the big winners.

Headingley is one of five venues for the 2023 Ashes series – Trent Bridge misses out from the six traditional Test grounds – and was also among the eight granted teams for the new domestic Twenty20 tournament from 2020 onwards along with Lord’s, the Oval, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Old Trafford, Cardiff and Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl.

Graves left the Yorkshire chairmanship in 2015 to take up his ECB role, converted a reported £22m of debt owed him over to the Graves family trust (of which he is not a trustee) and has always vehemently rejected suggestions of having a conflict of interest.

Nevertheless, in announcing the news of the chosen grounds the ECB still felt moved to state in its press release that the 70-year-old had recused himself when the independent host venue panel presented its recommendations to the board on Wednesday.

Certainly Yorkshire will be relieved by their award of three Tests in the five-year period and a team in the new Twenty20 competition, having pushed their overall debt up to a reported £43m with the redevelopment of the football stand end at Headingley.

Overall, the allocation of the Tests marks a return to the format’s traditional outposts with Cardiff, Durham and Southampton awarded only limited‑overs internationals. England will play six home Tests from 2020 onwards (down by one) with half of these staged in London after Lord’s stayed at two per summer and the Oval retained its one.

Quick Guide Key revelations from the ECB Show Cities that will host T20 franchises from 2020 Birmingham (Edgbaston), Cardiff (Swalec Stadium), Leeds (Headingley), London (Lord’s and The Oval), Manchester (Old Trafford), Nottingham (Trent Bridge), Southampton (Ageas Bowl). The 10 counties that will not host a T20 franchise Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Sussex, Worcestershire. Cup final venues from 2020 Trent Bridge (One-Day Cup); Edgbaston (T20 Blast). Test venues from 2020 Edgbaston, Headingley, The Oval, Lord’s, Old Trafford and Trent Bridge (all grounds except Trent Bridge will host an Ashes Test in 2023). ODI and T20 venues from 2020 Bristol, Cardiff, Chester-le-Street and Southampton, plus the six Test venues above.

Previously counties had bid against each other – Durham, who no longer have Test status after a £3.8m financial rescue package by the ECB in 2016, can vouch for the perils of this arrangement – but under a new system in which ticket revenues will be split with the governing body by up to 50%, they instead pitched their suitability as hosts.

The process was chaired by the ECB deputy chairman, Ian Lovett, and included three independent executives from the world of sport: the former Lawn Tennis Association chief executive John Crowther, Karen Earl, the former chair of the sporting sponsorship agency Synergy, and Mick Hogan, the managing director of Newcastle Falcons.

The host venues for the ECB’s Twenty20 competition, which is as yet unnamed and will feature eight newly created teams from 2020 onwards, offered few surprises given the capacities involved and geographical spread. Cardiff received the green light ahead of Bristol and Taunton, despite struggling to bring in the crowds for the format previously.

The blow of missing out on an Ashes Test in 2023 for the second series running endured by Nottinghamshire – England will not play Australia at their stronghold of Trent Bridge in 2019, either – is softened not only by gaining a Twenty20 team but also by becoming the new home of the 50-over county final during the five-year period.

This means an end to the traditional Lord’s showpiece but with MCC retaining Tests involving both summer tourists, gaining host status for the new Twenty20 competition and an ODI every season, its chief executive Guy Lavender remained “delighted” at the outcome.

Hampshire similarly expressed their pleasure at securing a new Twenty20 team and seven limited-overs internationals. But there will be disappointment at yet again missing out on the Ashes, not least from their chairman, Rod Bransgrove, who has ploughed millions of his own money into the ground since rescuing the club from near insolvency in 2000.

Surrey were vocal critics of the new Twenty20 competition before the counties, promised £1.3m from its revenues each per season, voted it through last year. But the club still secured the Oval as a host venue on top of its international matches. With plans to expand the ground’s capacity to 40,000 during this time, their case was always strong.

Warwickshire also received a bumper set of matches for Edgbaston, with a Twenty20 team to be based in Birmingham, four Tests in five years and every Finals Day for the T20 Blast competition that will still be contested by the 18 first-class counties.