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04 Oct 2016 11:17 #323075
by chairman
(REUTERS) – Durham have been stripped of their status as a Test match venue and relegated to the second division of the English county championship after receiving a £3.8M bailout from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).Durham’s Chester-le-Street ground first hosted Test cricket in 2003 and staged a five-day match between England and Sri Lanka this year. It will continue to be eligible as a venue for one-day internationals.
With debts reported at £7.5M the ECB money will allow Durham to meet their operational costs and pay staff wages as well as settle debts.
“We’ve been working with Durham County Cricket Club throughout the year on how best to address their financial issues; we welcome the club’s willingness to review its business model and management structures,†the ECB said in a statement yesterday.
“There is no doubt that a strong, financially robust Durham County Cricket Club has a vital role to play in developing England talent, enriching our domestic competitions and underpinning the wider growth of the game in the north east.â€
Durham, who were awarded first-class status in 1992 to become one of 18 teams in the championship, will start next season in the second division with a 48-point penalty and will be subject to a salary cap until 2017.
Hampshire, who finished bottom of the first division last season and were relegated, will now stay in the top tier of the county championship.
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05 Oct 2016 07:02 #323174
by pwarbi
This level of punishment might seem a little on the harsh side, but I have to agree that penalties do have to be put in place for clubs that aren't able to handle their own finances the way they should be handled. It's one thing building a winning team on the pitch, but they also have to be run as a business as well and I think if penalties weren't in place, then there's nothing to stop every club from spending beyond their means and then just relying on the ECB to come along and bail them out.
I don't think this is just a punishment for Durham, but a warning for every club that spending beyond their means in order to win things won't be tolerated and clubs will now be looking at their own financial structures to make sure the same doesn't happen to them. Durham are unfortunate that they have been made an example of, but I think that if lessons can be learnt then in the long run it's for the best for English cricket. Durham fans won't think that though obviously...
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05 Oct 2016 14:11 #323217
by dillinger10
Durnam weren't punished for spending big in order to win, they borrowed big as one of the conditions that the ECB set on them becoming a First Class county was building a Test-standard ground. They had to borrow serious £'s in order to renovate and upgrade the Riverside, but they expected to be able to pay off these debts with the revenue they would receive from hosting Test matches.
Unfortunately, the ECB "rewarded" them by giving them low revenue Tests - mostly early in the season and against weak teams - and then compounded their troubles when they switched the Test allocation system to one where counties bid against each other. For many reasons, Durham is a far less attractive option, and this further hampered their expected revenue streams.
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Durham lose Test venue status after receiving ECB bailout
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