Confusion as Middlesex change their name

	Crusader Owais Shah will be a pink Panther from 2009 © Getty Images

In a move that is likely to stir even more unrest within the already unhappy ranks of the county's membership, from next season the Middlesex Crusaders will be known as the Middlesex Panthers.

The very low-key admission came from Vinny Codrington, the county's chief executive, who denied that the change had been caused by political correctness, but then seemed to contradict himself in an interview with the Sun newspaper. "We have had one or two complaints from our Muslim community and our Jewish community and we obviously pay attention to that.

"There have been people who have found the name rather upsetting. For example, one of our former presidents was Jewish and he didn't particularly like the name, although he just got on with it. The name was nothing whatsoever to do with the Crusades in the 11th and 12th century."

The Crusaders name is a fairly recent development, coming about in the early 1990s when marketing men decided that county names in isolation were not appealing enough. Middlesex's Crusader nickname originated as a reflection of the three seaxes on the county crest. A seaxe, or seax, is an Old Saxon sword dating to a period before the Crusades, but that subtlety appears to have been lost when the nickname was decided.

"It's like Manchester United changing their name," one member told the Sun. "But because of a tiny minority we're being stripped of it. It seems like a waste of time and money."

Another told Cricinfo that he believed the change was down to Middlesex's desire to be marketable in the subcontinent were they to again qualify for the Champions League. "The county wants to be as PC as possible, so they have tackled a problem that simply doesn't exist," he said.