Worcestershire in the black

Worcestershire have announced a pre-tax surplus for the second successive year, despite being relegated from the Championship top flight.

The profit in 2004 was £49,839 against around £3000 in 2003, largely boosted by an increase in membership income and good gate revenue from Twenty20 matches.

"All our income streams have shown an increase in the last year whilst our trading expenditure is still well below the 2001 levels," said Mark Newton, Worcestershire's chief executive. "Our policy of diverting as much of our resource to cricket, particularly our Academy, continues to be our primary financial objective. We are particularly pleased to note that revenue from membership subscriptions has risen by 29% in the last two years and gate receipts from the Twenty20 Cup rose by 26% in 2004 despite the fact we had one less home game."