And will start in division two on minus 48 points, plus points deductions in the T20 and one day competitions.

This for 'accepting' a financial bailout from the utter charlatans at the ECB. The same ECB who make counties bid upwards of a million pounds for hosting international fixtures and have caused clubs like Durham to be in debt in the first place. Also the Riverside has been stripped of Test status. Absolutely disgusting treatment for a county have supplied England with lots of talent in recent years.

Good Old ECB ...had to ensure a Southern Club wasn't relegated .Absolute crap as you PJ paying off the ECB for the privilege of hosting THEIR tests caused the debt in the first place.

Shocking treatment, I hope we can keep the likes of Ben Stokes and Woody, looks doubtful with them twats at ECB putting a salary cap on Durham from 2017 till 2020.

Durham haven't signed a player for years and normally do without an overseas player. The club has been more than aware of its problems and cut back the squad a lot, basically surviving on its own academy graduates, doing with it and producing England players. How these punishments will help them god only knows. The main money spinner for counties is the T20 so making it highly unlikely to get through the group some 7 months before its due to start is obviously going to help bring in money.

Conveniently this leaves 8 test venues and for 8 proposed city teams for this new franchise T20 competition as well, what a coincidence that is for the ECB

Ah good. We havent had a decent conspiracy theory for ages.

Decent article here on it;

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/ ... 60344.html

That's an excellent article and shows up the ECB for what they are.

A total southern shit-fest served up once again by the ECB. Durham's financial problems have come 99% from their efforts to stage England games. Harsh in the extreme, but suits the establishment down to the ground...

Michael Vaughan, Steve Harmison, and Paul Collingwood dont seem too upset with the decision. They are obviously upset its happened, but not the actual decision.

And if people, from the region, just dont turn up to watch them, whether it be Durham or England, then it was always going to be an issue.

People are not watching County Cricket fullstop. It's only happened because Durham County Council wouldn't write off the money owed to them ...Yorkshire owe £24 MILLION and no one is relegating them.. it's because Durham have upset their little club when they gate crashed their Southern Cartel.

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I love Durham. The City, the Uni, and the whole centre.

So I say this with a lot of regret:

But, look where the main test arena are.

London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Southampton, Cardiff and Nottingham.

Unfortunately Durhams ground is in the big metropolis of Chester Le Street.

Its not even in Durham.

The so called southern elite play test matches at Leeds Nottingham and Mnachester. Its hardly anti northern.

Its also substantially colder up here than everywhere else. Even Leeds.

We generally play 5 tests a summer. Two always in London.

Its not uneasonable to suggest Chester Le Street would be at the bottom of the wish list for most cricket lovers and all of the visiting countries.

Unfortunate, but a fact.

I wonder if Middlesex or Surrey would have their grounds struck off the Test circuit if they were caught in a similar situation???
I can hear the answer now.......Ah but Lords and The Oval are not subject to such sanctions etc etc etc.
I just wish that some Durham born lad from anywhere in the World would step forward and give the ECB their money back ( telling them where to stick it ), put the club on a sound financial footing and bollocks to the snotty, shandy drinking Southern *****.
Unless financial help comes from an outside source I can't see Durham emerging from this, at least not to former levels. The authorities have swatted us back into our basket and there we will stay.
It's not enough to relegate the club. They had to impose further penalties like points deductions, taking back any money the club wins until the £ 3.8m is repaid and deciding each year for three years how much the club can pay it's players, thus ensuring that it will be nigh on impossible to either recruit decent players or keep the home grown stars.
The ECB have effectively consigned the club into oblivion. It won't be long before the club's demise is complete.
I am 100% convinced that If it were Surrey or Middlesex in this position another result would have been reached.
We have dared to become a force in County Cricket and have paid the penalty.
I don't know why we bother.

It was reported in the Guardian that the club received a £4 million offer from someone outside of the club but the ECB told them to reject it so they could accept the ECB offer.

Of course they're upset, I think all Collingwood has said is there's little they can do about it as players. They have all disagreed with aspects of the punishment. Even Vaughan who isn't a Durham man was totally baffled of them being stripped of Test status.

The sanctions are disproportionate, inconsistent and unfair.

It's the system not the counties to blame have Durham had far less debt than other counties like Glamorgan and Yorkshire. George Dobell has just been on Talksport and the Test they were awarded for outbidding other clubs in debt, in freezing cold May against Sri Lanka would have ran at a loss even if all Five days had been a sell out! That is ridiculous and wrong. Also it's wrong to say International cricket hasn't been supported well, every game against decent opposition at a decent time of year has been a sell out. Support is not the issue and not why Durham are in this position I take your point about the location of the ground but that's not the current set ups fault. It was a decision made years ago by people who are now mostly dead! Durham were asked by the ECB as part of them becoming a first class county to build an International class ground in the North East they have delivered on that front. Now they get stripped of Test Status!? What is that doing for the game up here, what is that all about from the ECB. Ridiculous and short sighted. We play at least seven matches a summer, not five. Enough to go around in a two or three year cycle.

To come down this hard and Durham is just all wrong where is the accountability from themselves and acknowledgement that the system is all wrong and has a huge part to play in it. Durham do need to improve commercially and in other aspects off the field but surely the ECB should be there to assist in that not come down on Durham like a ton of bricks. The whole thing stinks.

They needed Hampshire in League 1 .. so they made it happen

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Hampshire were utterly and totally shite last season, and deserved relegation.

It's all a farce, bit like tonights "Cup Tie"...

Thanks for posting this PJ. Brilliant analysis and some great comments from fans of other counties.

What is it about top level sports administration that attracts such overpaid, unscrupulous characters? Must be the almost total lack of accountability, the opportunity to make up the rules as you go along, and all that lovely dosh splashing about thanks to TV rights and sponsorship.

48 teams in the World Cup? Tick. Premiership B teams in EFL competitions? Tick? City franchises for tip and rush cricket? Tick.

As for those annoying little outposts of sport in out of the way places, who gives 2 fucks? As that great visionary Sir John Hall once said of Hartlepool United, well, they can always go part time in a regional league.

The ECB have done their damnedest to make Durham CCC uncompetitive for a long time to come. My response? Same as my Pools season ticket and Trust subs. I've just forked out £135 to become a 60+ Durham member.

Another good article here:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport ... -mqhttlmd6