Durham punishment from ECB is harsh, says Michael Atherton
'Sadly, it's the players who are being penalised with relegation'
Tuesday 4 October 2016 11:19, UK
Michael Atherton says the punishment from the England and Wales Cricket Board's to relegate Durham from Division One of the County Championship is harsh.
Durham have accepted financial aid of £3.8m from the ECB - but the price for that is relegation, and a points deduction in all three competitions next year.
While Atherton believes the punishment looks harsh on paper, he says it serves as proof that the ECB don't wish to make a habit of bailing out counties struggling financially.
"There are a lot of clubs for whom debt has been spiralling out of control," said Atherton. "Some are even in more debt than Durham, but have greater revenue streams coming in to help.
"For Durham, without this bailout, it would have been difficult for them to survive.
"When you look at things in black and white, a points deduction and relegation does look a pretty harsh penalty, but the ECB don't want to be seen as a lender of last resort.
"Plus, if the ECB were going to hand out sanctions in return for the money - which they decided they must do - it's difficult to know what else they could do. They clearly couldn't give Durham a financial penalty obviously, because that would be self-defeating.
"Sadly, it's the players who are being penalised here with relegation, but Durham have got good young players - they won the second XI championship last year - and some players have re-signed, like Keaton Jennings.
"While they have lost one or two - Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick both going to Surrey, shortly after the players had been told about the seriousness of the financial situation - they've got a very able and experienced captain in Paul Collingwood.
"Durham were very competitive this year, as indeed they have been for a long time. They're an unbelievable success story from a cricketing perspective.
"They've won plenty of trophies, produced more young England cricketers of late by virtually every other county than Yorkshire, I suspect.
"On a pure cricketing basis, they're a success story, but they'll now have to haul themselves off the floor after this decision."
