Gloomy times at Nevil Road

Despite on-the-field success, things are far from rosy at Gloucestershire, where an operating loss of £22,000 has been announced for 2003.

The figures were worse than 2002, but there were underlying reasons. The levy received from the ECB was cut by £30,000 midway through the season, and the 2002 figures included a one-off donation of £100,000.

"There is not enough money coming into the game in terms of people coming to watch," Jim Harris, the county's honorary treasurer, admitted. "It is essential that we provide the type of entertainment that crowds will want to watch and at a time they are able to attend."

Harris said that membership and admission fees would increase "substantially", but he explained that the cost of watching cricket remained cheap when compared with other sports. "I hope that members and spectators will accept that it is essential that we take this action," he added. " Running a first class cricket county in this century is not cheap if we wish to maintain the highest standards."