Somewhat perversely, the euphoria around the 2005 Ashes success was the catalyst. It was in the afterglow of that triumph that the ECB's financial adviser Deloitte Touche suggested that English cricket could be entering a golden era with large rewards to be reaped. But with many clubs housed in dilapidated and crumbling buildings, it was time for a major makeover.The Test match grounds (TMGs) were the first to respond. The ECB warned that unless they modernised, their status as active international venues could come under threat. Others on the periphery of international cricket, like the ambitious Hampshire, were busy transforming their ground into a magnificent sports stadium. The competition was on. Some counties borrowed heavily from banks and councils, who were throwing money around like confetti. Then the 2008 banking crisis hit.Two years later Deloitte Touche delivered a follow-up report. This one was markedly different in tone and message, warning the ECB that some TMGs were "facing financial difficulties and maybe even insolvency". Their report stated that debt levels amongst the TMGs stood at £91m and this would only increase with interest payments alone costing £36m up to 2015. These were disturbing figures for a group whose combined profit, excluding the MCC, between 2006 and 2009 was just £2m.Non-TMGs like Kent were also feeling the pinch, needing to sell the family silver to raise sufficient funds for their St Lawrence redevelopment. A highly valued painting here (£600,000), adjoining land there (£4m plus) - but it still wasn't enough. Unfortunate commercial decisions, along with rising players' wages, began crippling the club. In March, Kent reported a £628,054 operating loss for 2012, amounting to a £2,544,042 deficit since the 2008 accounts - a huge sum for a non-TMG.The first to react were local councils. John Gilbey, leader of the Canterbury City Council, tells AOC:"County cricket is not self-sustainable. It requires initial investment to become an all-year business. Our bottom line is, do you want county cricket in Kent, and if so, do you want it based in Canterbury? The financial decision is about the impact a county club has on the local community; the income and jobs gained or lost; and the well-being it can offer to local residents." The decision involved a £5.5m loan in two tranches. "If we had not done this, the club would have got into severe financial straits."Meanwhile Hampshire, steered by the flamboyant Rod Bransgrove, was in even greater financial strife. By 2009, the Irish bank aligned to the club had stopped all lending facilities. Enter Keith House, leader of the Eastleigh Borough Council. "Nobody would lend, so Hampshire came to us," he explains. "We concluded the project was excellent for the community and would make a sound return for the council. So we stepped in. Without our intervention, Hampshire might have fallen into financial difficulty."Eastleigh Borough Council bought the Ageas Bowl for £6.5m in January 2012. The council rent it back to Hampshire at an annual £420,000. They also took on the £32m investment required to build the 175-bedroom, four-star Hilton hotel and 18-hole golf course. Altogether, this amounts to £38.5m of taxpayers' money - an extraordinary amount for a medium-sized borough council. The hotel includes a luxurious health spa and gym, a gourmet restaurant for 150 diners, and a 6500 square-foot ballroom. Work started last autumn and will take 18 months to complete. The venue will create 500 new jobs and £50m extra annual revenue for the local economy. The overall Ageas Bowl development costs £48m in total.Economic distress for our established clubs is not unusual. In 2000, Hampshire were insolvent to the tune of £1.2muntilBransgrove bailed them out, while in 2003, Yorkshire were saved from certain bankruptcy by their chairman, Colin Graves: "The club was 48 hours away from going bust," he says. "I stepped in by personally underwriting the £10m owed to the bank along with any future loans. I sorted out their finances, got the Leeds City Council, university and others involved." But why? Graves, who has a £50m personal fortune from creating the supermarket chain Costcutter, laughs: "I must have been an idiot. But I'm passionate about the club and didn't want to see it fold."There's more. In 2012, Glamorgan only escaped administration after refinancing their debts and attracting a new £1.3m investment from a private consortium, the £13.4m owed to creditors via the SWALEC's development having proved difficult to manage.Other clubs were more fortunate. During 2010-11, Sussex used a £12m legacy to redevelop their ground debt-free. Nottinghamshire spent just £8.2m transforming Trent Bridge - the money coming from an East Midlands Development Agency grant (£2.5m), as well as loans from three local councils (£3.7m), and the club's own reserves (£2m). Described as "creative, bold and hugely successful", this partnership won two prestigious accolades during 2009, including the Outstanding Public Private Partnership Award at the MJ Local Government Achievement Awards in London.
caunty cricket is experiencing a commercial transformation unparalleled in its 123-year Championship history. Encouraged and supported by the ECB, clubs are shifting from an outdated and withering six-month business model into a 365-day
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