Derbyshire make a loss of £82,989

Derbyshire, who struggled on the pitch in 2004, did badly off it too, announcing a deficit for the year of £82,989.

They cited the costs of their new £4million Gateway sports centre and an early exit from the C&G Trophy as the main reasons, and also pointed out that all their floodlit matches and Twenty20 games were affected by bad weather, which reduced the crowds.

Tom Sears, Derbyshire's new chief executive, commented: "The results are very disappointing, and we have a number of areas to address. With a decrease in the funding we will receive from the England & Wales Cricket Board in 2005, it looks like this year will again be difficult financially. Having said that, I am very confident we are putting into place a structure that will allow us to increase our own revenue generation which will stand us in good stead going forward."