A change of financial year end contributed to Northamptonshire declaring a deficit of £181,357 after tax for the 14-month period up to December 31 2001. This compares with a loss of £98,111 for the 12 months up to October 31 2000.

In announcing Northamptonshire's financial results, Chief Executive Stephen Coverdale explained the reasons for a change of year end. He said: "Distributions from the England and Wales Cricket Board make a very significant contribution to our overall income, and we have been advised for some time that it would assist with both our accounting processes and financial planning for us to fall in line with the ECB's own financial year, which runs from January to December."

"Early last year we took the decision to make the necessary change, which meant that our financial `year' was extended by an additional two months."

"Accordingly, we brought in the period November and December 2001 – always the worst two months of the year from a financial point of view, with little or no income generated."

"An inevitable consequence of the change was a large deficit. In fact, if we had retained an October 31 year end, our results for 2001 would have shown a very great improvement on 2000 and a markedly better outcome, with a small surplus being achievable."

The figures reveal that gate receipts were up by more than 35%, largely due to the success of the one-day match against the Australians in June, and there was an increase of nearly £60,000 in sponsorship revenue. Cricket expenditure rose by more than £115,000, even though players' wage bill was reduced by £20,000.

Coverdale added: "We launched our new Cricket Academy in 2001 which cost £75,000 to run, and we also increased our overall expenditure on youth cricket development by nearly £30,000. Those are important aspects of our business and we see them as investments for the future, but they also add significantly to our running costs."

"In the last four years we have built our Indoor Cricket Centre, which we believe is the best of its type in the country, and expanded our youth development activities. However, the net cost to the club to sustain these initiatives is more than £150,000 each year."

"English cricket as a whole is experiencing major economic pressures, and counties like ourselves, who don't stage international matches, have particular issues to face. It is vital that we stabilise and secure our financial position and return to profitability as soon as possible."

© Northamptonshire CCC