Worcestershire return record profit

Worcestershire have turned around their dire financial position to record a profit in excess of £350,000, just 12 months after being deep in debt.

The club's home ground of New Road was continually flooded in the dreadfully wet summer of 2007 and match after match was cancelled, delayed or moved to another venue. The end loss to the club amounted to £1.164 million, recording a pre-tax loss of £693,000, but they have turned their fortunes around.

"After the floods in 2007 we set about a two-year recovery, we are on track," Mark Newton, the club's chief executive, told the BBC. "We have been helped by a lot of people and we are very grateful. We lost some £75,000 at the end of the 2008 season when we had more flooding or the figures could have been even better."

£150,000 was raised by the chairman Martyn Price's Flood Club, with increasing commercialisation of the club and sponsorship also helping to swell their profits.

"Despite the general economic situation, we are optimistic about the year ahead," Price said. "The broadcast agreement with BSkyB is in place and we have an Ashes summer plus the World Twenty20 to look forward to. The team is in the first division of both League competitions and we hope this and the continuing development of our entertaining young English players will enable us to maintain our membership and spectator numbers."