Durham issued a statement of gratitude on Tuesday afternoon for a landslide of support from the wider cricketing family following their relegation to Division Two in exchange for a £3.8m bailout, describing the response over the previous 24 hours as “beyond comprehension”.
The news that the County Championship’s most northerly club will, for reasons beyond their on-field performance, start the 2017 season at the bottom of the pile with a 48‑point deficit certainly shocked all who heard it on Monday. Football, the north-east’s first love, is well used to such scenarios. But cricket? The summer sport has never before witnessed such a public defenestration.
Related: Kent’s chairman on the warpath over Hampshire taking Durham’s place
Continue reading...