Sta£e of the Nation - County Cricket Finances

Chief Exec Colin Povey Bids Farewell to Warwickshire After a Difficult and Challenging 10 years
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To be known as the man to dump Warwickshire in the financial doo-doo may not be the finest legacy but Colin Povey maintains
that if he had not borrowed £20m from the Birmingham City Council (BCC) to help with the latest Edgbaston redevelopment,
Warwickshire would have been forced to seek another ground.

Having chatted with Povey on various occasions about the club’s deficit - long-term debts which now stand at £22m - one felt he
was out of his depth. He lacked the business acumen and entrepreneurial skills that a TMG like Lancashire possess.

His challenges were great, agreed, but whoever is Povey’s successor, they take on an ugly financial carbuncle, a grasping limpet
to the underbelly of the club which, at present, neither the club or BCC have any idea on how to resolve.

For a proud club like Warwickshire - a TMG whom in the past wallowed in money and financial security - being a long-term debtor
can not be a pleasant experience and why increasing supporters lost trust in Povey and the manner of his Chief Executorship.

Unable to even pay the interest on their loans, the BCC then offered solace by organising a series of ‘payment holidays’, while
‘strongly persuading'  the club to change their T20 name to the ‘Birmingham Bears‘ as recompense. To be owned by a Council, to
have your fate sealed by a Council, must surely be an humiliating experience.

“If” Colin Graves “does” push through the EPL, Warwickshire or should one say the BCC, will be the first to grab at the prospect.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/33651393
www.edgbaston.com/media/file/Annual-Report-2014_000098.pdf

More from the front line here, this time Northamptonshire  www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2015/content/story/905971.html

Not withstanding the author's penchant for melodrama, and his attempt to construct alarmism from the normal process (" The club, who have already borrowed several hundred thousand pounds from a group of directors earlier this year, have been instructed by the ECB to undergo an independent financial review to ascertain whether they fill the criteria for borrowing. "), this does underline how precarious the 18-counties structure has now become, and how deep the divisions are between those who float in the First divison, usually on the back of Test match revenues, assorted subsidies and sponsorship deals, and those who having sunk into the Second division now find themselves trapped in the vicious circle of mediocre players - lack of public interest - spending without income.

Northants might get their money, though GD highlights the fact that admitting that you're broke at just the time that the governing body is running a viability review on ways forward is akin to asking the crocodile if you could just have a look at that dodgy rear molar, upper second. Then again, they might be propped up for a couple of years because the rest of the county chairmen are worried about their own dental health. What matters is that English cricket has reached the end of a stage in it's history where it could genuinely contain itself within the county structure. Different times, different economics, different units are needed to make this lovely game attractive enough to be worth preserving.

I'm tempted to suggest that Northants would benefit from a Jon Canute 'project' . . .          

Only joking, Jon.

I can only guess what Mandy Rice Davies' response would be . . .    

GD sticks to his guns and produces some substantiation for his original story www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2015/content/story/906211.html

Sensationalist he still is, but he does have a nose for a story and perhaps he has learned a bit more about the responsibilities of journalists.

His silence speaks volumes. Anybody? How will a city based T20 super doopa league bring an influx of new money?