Further to the statement released today by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Middlesex Cricket issues the following statement to offer further clarity on the sanctions imposed upon Middlesex County Cricket Club and the Middlesex Cricket Board by the ECB as a result of historic financial mismanagement of the Club under its former administration. The ECB’s statement can be seen HERE.
When Andrew Cornish, and the Club’s Chief Financial Officer, Illa Sharma, took post in the middle of 2021, the Club were in the process of investigating some serious administrative irregularities with the Club’s pension scheme, which when rectified, resulted in a significant impact on the Club’s financial position. This, in turn, led to an intense internal scrutiny of all other areas of the Club’s financial management under its previous administration, and led to the ECB launching an investigation into the Club’s wider financial governance.
At the Club’s mid-season members’ forum in July, Andrew Cornish, informed all present of this situation and advised that the Club were working closely with the ECB, who were investigating certain historic elements of the Club’s finances.
The Club has made every effort to keep its members and fans abreast of these ongoing issues, giving regular updates whenever possible, and today’s release is the outcome of a long but essential process.
The Club’s Executive team, together with the Board of Directors, have been putting in place the appropriate processes and procedures to ensure robust and transparent financial governance is now in place. As a result, we can give our assurances that the Club is now being run to the highest possible standards.
Naturally, we are extremely disappointed with the outcome of the ECB’s investigation and the sanctions which are imposed upon us moving forwards, however today’s announcement from the ECB draws a line under the matter, and we accept their findings that historically, under previous administration, the Club has been poorly financially managed over a number of years.
Middlesex Cricket will be making no further comment on this matter at this stage.
Members, please note! A separate members' statement will be uploaded into the Members Hub, in the Exclusive Content section, with details of a specially arranged forum for members to attend to raise questions on this matter.
