You must be logged on to see media items
-
The forums will be unavailable for a few hours on Saturday 6th June, when they do return they will initially be in a degraded state with some features missing, but normal posting/reading will be possible. The main website will not be affected by these updates.
New user registrations are currently disabled.
Some other features of the forum are also currently disabled.
RIP Tommy Moffat
- Thread starter Hetty
- Start date
Player and administrator at many levels in local cricket for 70+ years. He,probably more than anyone, worked and was responsible for Durham's elevation to 1st class status. A top man in every respect.RIP Tom.
watchingfromafar
Goalkeeper
A top man who did more than you can imagine for Durham cricket over many many years. RIP Tom
Eggman
Striker
Yep a pillar of local and Durham county cricket.
I played against him a few times but remember him most for having a half hour chat with him at ‘The Fell’ while watching a local XI play Warwickshire in a testimonial game - around 1986/87 ish.
Lovely fella - RIP Tom
Butcher's Coat
Striker
He was a lovely man.
RIP Tom.
RIP Tom.
Stattos child
Full Back
RiP
Durham owe Tommy a great deal
Should name somewhere in ground after him
Durham owe Tommy a great deal
Should name somewhere in ground after him
alloutcricket.com/durham
Those who wished to dissuade the working group from the idea were not hard to find. “The biggest problem was convincing the committee to even attempt first-class status,” reflects Tom Moffat, a former minor counties player for Durham who was treasurer and a member of the working group. One senior financial expert told them it would be “lunacy” to even attempt it.
Moffat was not easily deterred. The more he looked into the concept, the more he viewed the North-East’s lack of representation in first-class cricket as unfair. Constrained by the meagre budget of a minor county, Moffat came to regard his wife and sons as “the staff of Durham County Cricket Club”.
In March 1989, Moffat and the working group completed a comprehensive feasibility study, convinced that Durham could sustain a vibrant first-class side. The full committee agreed, and Durham promptly submitted their application to the Test and County Cricket Board to become the 18th first-class county.
The TCCB responded by forming a working party of its own to liaise with Durham. Moffat says that at times it felt like they existed to impede the bid rather than aid it: “The working party used to put hurdles up for us to jump.” Most draconian was the stipulation that Durham had to build a ground capable of hosting Test cricket, even though only 11 of the existing 17 counties had such a facility.
Durham’s committee spent much of the next two summers cajoling county chairmen and chief executives for support. Their arguments traversed diverse terrain, arguing that a team would recognise the popularity of the game in the North-East and help lift it up further, while having an even number of teams could help rationalise the fixture schedule. Durham also had to prove that their entrance would not simply mean that the money the TCCB divided up among counties would have to be spread around more thinly.
The TCCB working party said that Durham would need to have £1 million in the bank and their own ground within five years, and to show how they would get to that stage. While Durham were among the wealthiest minor counties, they only had reserves of £28,000 in 1988. For their application to be successful, Durham needed to prove to the TCCB that they had £500,000 they could call upon if they became first-class. “The region as well as Durham county rose to that challenge,” David Harker, chief executive officer, says. The first £100,000 came from Newcastle Building Society, and support soon followed from Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, while Roseberry was able to tap into the local business community.
Durham were not dealing with a governing body receptive to new counties. It had been a full 70 years since the TCCB last admitted a new first-class county, Glamorgan. It had been even longer – 1905 – since a county from England had been allowed to join the County Championship. “We were never entirely convinced that the TCCB really wanted Durham to be successful in their bid for first-class status,” reflects David Harker, who was financial controller for Durham at the time and later became chief executive of the club.
On 6 December 1990, the vote came. Durham had made their case with diligence and passion, yet as their fate was being decided Durham remained on the outside: not being a first-class county, they weren’t allowed to Lord’s for the meeting. Like Barack Obama winning the presidency, the final result – 16 counties in favour, with Sussex abstaining, when 12 votes were needed for the resolution to pass – makes the outcome seem inevitable in hindsight. It did not feel like that to Harker at the time. “It was on a knife-edge throughout. I don’t think it was ever fully taken for granted.”
Those who wished to dissuade the working group from the idea were not hard to find. “The biggest problem was convincing the committee to even attempt first-class status,” reflects Tom Moffat, a former minor counties player for Durham who was treasurer and a member of the working group. One senior financial expert told them it would be “lunacy” to even attempt it.
Moffat was not easily deterred. The more he looked into the concept, the more he viewed the North-East’s lack of representation in first-class cricket as unfair. Constrained by the meagre budget of a minor county, Moffat came to regard his wife and sons as “the staff of Durham County Cricket Club”.
In March 1989, Moffat and the working group completed a comprehensive feasibility study, convinced that Durham could sustain a vibrant first-class side. The full committee agreed, and Durham promptly submitted their application to the Test and County Cricket Board to become the 18th first-class county.
The TCCB responded by forming a working party of its own to liaise with Durham. Moffat says that at times it felt like they existed to impede the bid rather than aid it: “The working party used to put hurdles up for us to jump.” Most draconian was the stipulation that Durham had to build a ground capable of hosting Test cricket, even though only 11 of the existing 17 counties had such a facility.
Durham’s committee spent much of the next two summers cajoling county chairmen and chief executives for support. Their arguments traversed diverse terrain, arguing that a team would recognise the popularity of the game in the North-East and help lift it up further, while having an even number of teams could help rationalise the fixture schedule. Durham also had to prove that their entrance would not simply mean that the money the TCCB divided up among counties would have to be spread around more thinly.
The TCCB working party said that Durham would need to have £1 million in the bank and their own ground within five years, and to show how they would get to that stage. While Durham were among the wealthiest minor counties, they only had reserves of £28,000 in 1988. For their application to be successful, Durham needed to prove to the TCCB that they had £500,000 they could call upon if they became first-class. “The region as well as Durham county rose to that challenge,” David Harker, chief executive officer, says. The first £100,000 came from Newcastle Building Society, and support soon followed from Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, while Roseberry was able to tap into the local business community.
Durham were not dealing with a governing body receptive to new counties. It had been a full 70 years since the TCCB last admitted a new first-class county, Glamorgan. It had been even longer – 1905 – since a county from England had been allowed to join the County Championship. “We were never entirely convinced that the TCCB really wanted Durham to be successful in their bid for first-class status,” reflects David Harker, who was financial controller for Durham at the time and later became chief executive of the club.
On 6 December 1990, the vote came. Durham had made their case with diligence and passion, yet as their fate was being decided Durham remained on the outside: not being a first-class county, they weren’t allowed to Lord’s for the meeting. Like Barack Obama winning the presidency, the final result – 16 counties in favour, with Sussex abstaining, when 12 votes were needed for the resolution to pass – makes the outcome seem inevitable in hindsight. It did not feel like that to Harker at the time. “It was on a knife-edge throughout. I don’t think it was ever fully taken for granted.”
Last edited:
