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In an attempt to ease the club’s mounting financial
strain, Middlesex will host two of its home games in the Vitality Blast at
Essex’s home field of Chelmsford, next year.
The chosen outgrounds for Middlesex, which rents
Lord’s, its main venue, from MCC, are Radlett Cricket Club and Merchant
Taylors’ School in Watford.
Nonetheless, current CEO Andrew Cornish has confirmed
additional cost-cutting measures, given the club’s protracted legal battle with
former CEO Richard Goatley and September’s £150,000 fine (of which £100,000 was
suspended until October 2025) for financial mismanagement.
“We have gone to lengths to be transparent and
open with our members when discussing the financial position the club is in,
and moving forwards we need to continue to take every step we can to ensure we
remain rigorous in our control of the club’s costs,” Cornish said in a
statement on Middlesex’s website.
“The cost of setting up the infrastructure of an
out-ground venue is a significant liability the club has historically had to
factor into our financial model every year – increasingly so in recent seasons
with the enhancements we have made to the member experience at out-ground
matches.”
Consequently, Middlesex will host games against
Gloucestershire on July 18 and Kent on May 31 at Chelmsford, in addition to
making a third trip to play Essex on June 2 as the visiting team. They have one
Blast match scheduled on July 6 at Radlett against Hampshire, and two One-Day
Cup matches in August, when Lord’s will host the Hundred.
“As we continue to scrutinise every cost the club
incurs, out-ground set-up costs stand out as an area which we could make a
significant positive impact on,” Cornish added.
“We have, as a result, been in discussion with
our friends at Essex, who have been very receptive to the idea of hosting us at
the Cloud County Ground for two of our Blast matches this year.”