6:00am Tuesday 7th July 2009
By Michael Reeves
CHIEF executive Mark Newton believes Worcestershire can now put the £1million losses of 2007 to bed after a successful England Lions match at New Road.
The County saw crowds of more than 3,000 for the opening three days of the tour game with Australia last week, giving a much-needed boost to the club coffers.
While the final figures are not yet in, Newton believes the money lost following the summer floods of 2007 has now been fully recouped.
“We can now put the losses of 2007 to bed and move on,” he said. “We said at the time of the floods we would be on a two-year recovery timetable and last year we recouped most of that money.
“The match we had last week was the final piece of the jigsaw and it was very successful. We had crowds of 3,000 for the first three days and between 1,500 and 2,000 on the Saturday.
“This was the closest we can get to a Test match and if we could have one every year it would be fantastic.
“But we know that isn’t going to happen, so for the ECB to give us that match in our 110th year was fantastic.”
Newton admits it has been a difficult summer financially for the County with the recession, but says many counties are in the same boat.
“The profile of cricket this summer is as high as it has ever been with the Ashes just about to start and we have just had the World Twenty20 tournament here as well,” he said.
“But people are being a lot more careful with their money and leaving it until the last minute before deciding whether to spend it or not.”
Meanwhile, the chief executive says the County will not let the Simon Jones contract issue drag on.
The injury-jinxed pace ace is desperate to stay at Worcestershire but knows the club have a tough decision to make regarding his future as he has not played this term.
The 30-year-old said he would like to know whether the County are to keep him or not but admits he will have to be patient.
“We are still to sit down with Simon, but this is something that we are not going to let drag on,” Newton said.
“We understand Simon’s comments and his attitude throughout has been first-class. We all know a fully fit Simon Jones at New Road is a fantastic sight and he is confident of being fit for the next season — something that we would all love to see.
“But we have to make sure that we protect the interests of the club.
“We are still not fully aware of what the format of next season will be and how that will affect the budgets.”
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