FTECB

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brandon said:
Here you go pal:

NOT for the first time, Durham have dug the ECB out of a sizeable hole in the shape of debutant centurion Keaton Jennings. Two months on from the imposition of the most draconian punishments ever seen in county cricket, it would be nice to think the governing body would repay the favour.

Jennings might have been born in South Africa, to a mother who was raised in Sunderland, but the key years of his cricketing development were spent in Durham’s academy system, with a nod to North East Premier League side Stockton, who also furnished him with some valuable experience.

Yesterday, while becoming the tenth Durham academy product to represent England, he scored a century on his Test debut in India. Sadly, thanks to the short-sightedness of the ECB, it is hard to see too many more Durham players following in his footsteps in the foreseeable future.

To recap, in exchange for providing a £3.8m bail out to address a black hole in Durham’s finances, the ECB relegated the county, imposed a 48-point penalty ahead of the new County Championship season, effectively ensuring Durham cannot return to Division One next season, and stripped their Chester-le-Street ground of its Test status.

The ECB have effectively taken over the running of Durham, imposing a stringent salary cap, banning any capital redevelopment work without their agreement, assuming a major say over the make-up of a new board and parachuting in Ian Botham to act as chairman.

Yet as a group of North-East MPs, led by North Durham’s Kevan Jones, outlined in a recent Parliamentary debate, they have made no attempt to explain why October’s punishments were so excessive or outline a plan that might enable Durham to remain a viable first-class county in the future. Instead, they continue to bury their collective head in the sand as cricket in the North-East threatens to die a painful death.

Why were Durham stripped of 48 points next season and removed from the rota of Test venues? The truth is that nobody really knows.

ECB chairman Colin Graves has claimed the points deduction was laid out in the regulations that govern “penalties for financial irregularities for not being sustainable”, but that is simply not the case. The rules explain what should happen in the event of a county going bankrupt, but Durham never became insolvent. As a result, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the 48-point figure was plucked out of the air.

Similarly, the ECB’s rule book says nothing about removing the right to host Test matches, and that is where things become extremely murky. As well as being chairman of the ECB, Graves is also a former chairman of Yorkshire, whose family trust is responsible for £80m of debts racked up by the county.

If Durham aren’t staging Test matches, it’s safe to assume Headingley will be. Graves has denied there was a conflict of interest when he voted to agree to the ECB’s punishments, but his presence in such a pivotal position does not look good.

That is the past though, what of the future? When it comes to assessing the ECB’s input, that is even more of a mess. The start of the new county season is a little over four months away, and yet so much of how Durham will operate remains shrouded in mystery.

Who do the ECB want on the new Durham board? How do they envisage the county being able to generate the funds required to remain solvent if the most lucrative revenue stream of attractive Test matches is removed from the equation? If they’re going to whisk Jennings away to play for England, how are Durham going to pay to replace him if they’re operating under a restrictive salary cap?

Presumably, some of those questions will fall into Botham’s in-tray, but the scale of the new chairman’s remit remains the biggest uncertainty when it comes to assessing how Durham might rebuild.

Is Botham a genuinely independent figure able to act in Durham’s best interests? Or is he an ECB stooge who has been appointed to do the governing body’s bidding?

The answer is we simply don’t know. Botham failed to say anything beyond a cursory few sentences when he was appointed, before disappearing to India to commentate on the ongoing Test series for Sky.

He will have to be more effusive when he returns to England, but in the meantime, it would be helpful if the ECB broke their silence to explain what on earth is going on. At the moment, they’re too busy patting themselves on the back after ‘discovering’ Jennings languishing in a cricketing backwater in the North-East.
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Cheers marra, class that

I've been trying to avoid the issue as its so f***ing corrupt but just gets me fuming reading that
 


Speaking to one of the lads who bought a badge from me the other day, and a picture of the badge has been doing the rounds at the Riverside which caused quite a bit of mirth by all accounts.

@viccarlton I may also need another 20 but I've had no confirmation yet.
 
The Lambton Worm said:
Speaking to one of the lads who bought a badge from me the other day, and a picture of the badge has been doing the rounds at the Riverside which caused quite a bit of mirth by all accounts.

@viccarlton I may also need another 20 but I've had no confirmation yet.
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Good to hear that they're going down well, I've had nothing but good reports from everyone that has one.
As regards wanting more, at present there are none of the original order left, the first 100 were a gamble but went OK but I wouldn't want to place another order without confirmed orders.
 
viccarlton said:
Good to hear that they're going down well, I've had nothing but good reports from everyone that has one.
As regards wanting more, at present there are none of the original order left, the first 100 were a gamble but went OK but I wouldn't want to place another order without confirmed orders.
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The person who wants them is also willing to order them himself if needs be. I'll wait and see if he wants to go ahead and then contact you.
 
The Lambton Worm said:
The person who wants them is also willing to order them himself if needs be. I'll wait and see if he wants to go ahead and then contact you.
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Thing is they were only the price they were because we ordered 100, for lesser amounts they were considerably dearer.
Qty and Price:-

Qty/size

30mm

25 -5.50

50 - 3.25

100 -1.87

250 - 1.05

500 - 0.83

1000 - 0.61
Plus VAT of course
 
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viccarlton said:
Good to hear that they're going down well, I've had nothing but good reports from everyone that has one.
As regards wanting more, at present there are none of the original order left, the first 100 were a gamble but went OK but I wouldn't want to place another order without confirmed orders.
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I can spare 3 if it helps
 
@TwasOnTheFifthOfMay Just to let you know that your badge is in the brewery till with Cousin Richie's. If you happen to be passing then pop in and collect and just drop £3 behind the bar. Also, there's a few of us meeting in the brewery tomorrow afternoon and also having a pre NYE drink on Saturday afternoon until about 9 O'clock if you're interested ..... see ya and all the best
 
Dougal said:
@TwasOnTheFifthOfMay Just to let you know that your badge is in the brewery till with Cousin Richie's. If you happen to be passing then pop in and collect and just drop £3 behind the bar. Also, there's a few of us meeting in the brewery tomorrow afternoon and also having a pre NYE drink on Saturday afternoon until about 9 O'clock if you're interested ..... see ya and all the best
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Cheers. I may well see you there at some point.
 
Good evening one and all, further thanks to everyone who bought badges, just a line to let everyone know that after all the funds were collected we were left with a surplus of £110, I don't think it will go far towards paying the wages of Stephen Cook or Tom Latham but we did decide that any surplus monies were going to go to the club in some way, my question is how or who do I contact as regarding donating this money @Dougal any advice appreciated.
 
viccarlton said:
Good evening one and all, further thanks to everyone who bought badges, just a line to let everyone know that after all the funds were collected we were left with a surplus of £110, I don't think it will go far towards paying the wages of Stephen Cook or Tom Latham but we did decide that any surplus monies were going to go to the club in some way, my question is how or who do I contact as regarding donating this money @Dougal any advice appreciated.
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Great work Vic, excellent effort throughout. Thanks again!

As for the money, if you can't get it direct to the club, how about just buying up £110 worth of tickets for games?

What to do with them? Not quite sure, possibly give them to local kids or even to a school for the purpose of planting the Durham cricketing bug into their heads.

After all, it couldn't hurt to make some new fans.
 
brandon said:
Great work Vic, excellent effort throughout. Thanks again!

As for the money, if you can't get it direct to the club, how about just buying up £110 worth of tickets for games?

What to do with them? Not quite sure, possibly give them to local kids or even to a school for the purpose of planting the Durham cricketing bug into their heads.

After all, it couldn't hurt to make some new fans.
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If 100% of the money goes to the club without doubt this!
 
brandon said:
Great work Vic, excellent effort throughout. Thanks again!

As for the money, if you can't get it direct to the club, how about just buying up £110 worth of tickets for games?

What to do with them? Not quite sure, possibly give them to local kids or even to a school for the purpose of planting the Durham cricketing bug into their heads.

After all, it couldn't hurt to make some new fans.
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Good idea, I'll probably end up contacting the club for info, I was just putting it out there to let everyone know what the state of play was and how much we made.
Marko said:
If 100% of the money goes to the club without doubt this!
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It was never intended as a venture for personal gain, the £110 will definitely go to the club .
 
viccarlton said:
Good idea, I'll probably end up contacting the club for info, I was just putting it out there to let everyone know what the state of play was and how much we made.

It was never intended as a venture for personal gain, the £110 will definitely go to the club .
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Cracking idea and fair play to you Vic. Top stuff that like.
 
brandon said:
Great work Vic, excellent effort throughout. Thanks again!

As for the money, if you can't get it direct to the club, how about just buying up £110 worth of tickets for games?

What to do with them? Not quite sure, possibly give them to local kids or even to a school for the purpose of planting the Durham cricketing bug into their heads.

After all, it couldn't hurt to make some new fans.
Click to expand...

Good idea this like
 
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