At least I think it is. When I seen the article saying that Warwickshire announced a 12 month post tax profit of £500,000 I thought thats good in the current financial climate.
On closer inspection they actually made a loss of £2.2 Million after disasterous crowds for the test match with Pakistan and the two T20’s between Australia and Pakistan. So to balance the books they have sold some land for £2 Million and deferred a £700,000 tax bill.
As a Warwickshire fan I’m a bit concerned at the need to sell land to balance the books, but not overly worried. Afterall, there are people at the club who know the finances far better than I ever will.
They are projecting a profit of around £200,000 next year when they start repayments for the ground improvements. But what if they have a disaster with next years India test match like they did the Pakistan one, could they find themselves struggling?
Looking in from the outside, the bears look like a well run club to me. I hope it’s not misguided faith, they don’t strike me as an administration that would remortgage the pavilion and all the crown jewels in a reckless gamble.
The struggling counties are all fairly well known and Warwickshire’s name never crops up on that list. Lets hope they stay off it, and for the benefit of English cricket the other counties get their finances sorted out as well.
It is also good to see Chris Woakes in the ODI squads for both the 50 over series and the T20’s against Australia. It would appear that Stuart Broad’s injury has opened the door for Woakes.
Woakes has made steady progress in the Warwickshire side now for a couple of years, it seems clear that Geoff Miller and the selectors have him earmarked as a future England player. He also has the added advantage for modern day bowlers in his ability with the bat.
It’s probably too late for Woakes to get in the world cup squad, I’d say – barring injuries – the selectors already have that sown up. The only other way now would be to put in the kind of performances that make it impossible for him to be dropped.
