Nottinghamshire record profit

Nottinghamshire have recorded a pre-tax profit of £148,426 for the year ending September 30, 2008, during the county's AGM last night.

"We saw the benefits of significant investments in the venue and the team in 2008 and it is pleasing to have recorded a pre-tax surplus," said Ray Dawson, chairman of the commercial and financial subcommittee. "Like any business, we won't be immune from the economic downturn but I firmly believe that we have laid sufficient foundations to emerge strongly when recovery comes."

Mick Newell, the club's director of cricket, said that his team's second-place finish in Division One of the Championship was a 'fair reflection' on the team's performance and paid tribute to the bowling attack for their consistency.

"The bowlers were superb throughout the season and we'll be looking for our top order batsmen to show an improvement to help the middle order," he said. "Planning for 2009 has been challenging because of the uncertainty surrounding the availability of our England players. We should treat any appearance by Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad as a bonus and we also expect Samit Patel and Graeme Swann to be away for long periods."