County to have talks with new sponsors (From Worcester News)

County to have talks with new sponsors

7:00am Wednesday 25th March 2009 in Sport By Michael Reeves, twitter.com/michaelreevesWN

WORCESTERSHIRE are hoping to enter into formal negotiations with a new major sponsor tomorrow.

The County are aiming to identify the firm they want to take over from collapsed electrical and gas retailer Apollo 2000 by the end of today with a final deal expected to be completed by the end of next week.

The New Road club have moved swiftly after Apollo 2000 went into administration on Tuesday last week forcing Worcestershire to begin searching for a new sponsor.

With the start of the new campaign just three weeks away, the commercial department at New Road have been working hard to ensure they do not start the season without a main sponsor.

“We have had a good response following the news that we were looking for a new main sponsor,” said the County’s chief executive Mark Newton.

“There have been talks with a number of parties and by the close of business today we hope to be in a position to begin formal negotiations.

“We have been hugely encouraged, even in these tough economic times, by the interest businesses have shown in becoming involved with Worcestershire County Cricket Club.”

Although the County are remaining tight-lipped on the amount of money they lost following the collapse of Apollo, Newton is confident that in the long-term they will be able to recoup the shortfall.

Any new deal, in the short-term, is expected to be less than that of Apollo but the speed in which Worcestershire have acted has been impressive.

“We don’t know how much money we will have lost in the short-term,” Newton said.

“We are unlikely to recoup the full amount we expected to receive before Apollo went into administration. Hopefully though, over a period of time we will have been able to get that back.

“We are very encouraged and grateful to the responses that we have had — many of which are local companies.”

Meanwhile, Worcestershire are expected to hear next week whether Ashley Noffke’s move to New Road will be blocked or not.

The Australian all-rounder, who has signed to be the County’s overseas player for the coming campaign, has been plagued by a back injury which required minor surgery.

New Road director of cricket Steve Rhodes says that the 31-year-old is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation and expects him to arrive in Worces-tershire at the beginning of next month.

Noffke, who is centrally contracted with Cricket Australia, is set to be assessed by his state side Queensland Bulls.

The Australian board are unlikely to go against what Queensland say given that he is not involved with the Baggy Greens at present.