Kevan Jones, the MP for North Durham, raised the issue of Durham County Cricket Club’s recent relegation and points deduction in parliament on Thursday, describing it as a “scandal” and urging the England and Wales Cricket Board to publish the method by which the punishment was calculated.
In a debate on the subject held in Westminster Hall, Jones accused the ECB of a lack of transparency over the decision that will mean Durham starting next season in Division Two of the County Championship on minus 48 points, stripped of the right to host Test cricket and given a string of financial sanctions as agreed conditions to the governing body’s £3.8m bailout of the club in October.
Jones stated that, while Durham were in financial difficulty amid debts of £7.5m, the club had not gone bankrupt and therefore ECB regulations, which are unpublished but that he had obtained through a source inside the governing body, should not have been applied. He went on to state that the punishment did not tally with the document he had seen either.
“I don’t think openness and transparency is what comes to mind when it comes to the ECB,” Jones said. “The regulations should be public documents. What have they got to hide, unless they are trying to cover something up?”
He later added: “The way this has been done is a scandal. Loyal fans who have supported the club over many years through a passionate love of cricket have been completely disregarded.
“You have to ask, what is the purpose of the ECB? Is it to protect interests and act a cosy club? Or is to support those people who want active involvement in cricket? That is the clear question. This type of secrecy and lack of transparency in 2016 cannot continue.”
Jones stated that in response to a letter he had sent to the ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, asking for clarification on the matter, he had been told the governing body was reviewing the publication of its financial regulations in light of Durham’s punishment.
The sports minister, Tracey Crouch, was unable to attend but has agreed to meet Jones and Roberta Blackman-Woods, the MP for the City of Durham, who also took part in the debate, to discuss the subject further.
