Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Kent forced to start cutting their cloth
Kent Cricket have revealed a package of financial measures they hope will help the club come through the coronavirus crisis in good shape.
The steps include minimising all on-going expenditure to the lowest level possible while the club’s executive directors have voluntarily taken a temporary 20% pay cut.
Kent say they are in constant dialogue and collaboration with the England and Wales Cricket Board over possible structures of the game for 2020, and financial solutions. They are actively discussing the terms of the club’s loan with their main lender, Canterbury City Council.
Kent are also assessing the club’s ability to access the recently announced Government finance schemes and are stopping all noncontractual capital expenditure. The club say their Covid19 Task Force continues to meet daily via online video conferencing.
They add that the two clear priorities for the club’s leadership remain the health and well-being of stakeholders and ensuring sustainability through the short- term financial challenges posed by the outbreak.
The domestic season was due to open on April 12 but the ECB last week announced a sevenweek delay, pushing the start back until at least May 28. Kent have also been forced to postponed the sold-out “An evening with Kent legends” on April 23 and a celebration dinner to mark the club’s 150th year anniversary in The Long Room at Lord’s which was planned for June 17. Kent’s chief executive, Simon Storey said: “The club’s Covid-19 Task Force are fully versed on the financial status of the club. “We are pursuing all options vigorously and risk mitigation measures are already being identified and, where appropriate, being put in place. “We are working closely with the ECB and our fellow FCCS (First Class counties) to ensure that a game-wide plan is in place to cover the various scenarios, be that a shortened season or no season at all.
“We believe that everyone in the cricket family across the UK is approaching this crisis with a desire to act in the best interests of the game’s stakeholders, at all levels.
“The situation continues to move extremely rapidly and although we face an incredibly difficult and complex set of challenges, we remain optimistic that with support of our key partners and stakeholders, we can navigate a route through this crisis.”
Mr Storey had earlier stated that Kent were totally behind the ECB’S decision to delay the start of the season.
The ECB say work has started on revised schedules to begin in June, July or August, with the new schedule prioritising on playing as much international and domestic cricket as possible.
England are not scheduled to play until June 4, while the inaugural Hundred competitions are due to run from July 17 to August 15.