The ECB have placed Middlesex and Middlesex Cricket Board (MCB) under special measures following breaches of the County Partnership Agreement (CPA) and financial regulations.

The measures have been imposed following an investigation into funds provided to Middlesex and MCB, which found the club has been financially mismanaged over several years. They include a reduction in payments to the club and a suspended points deduction in each of the County Championship, One Day Cup and T20 Blast, along with a business plan to run until the end of October 2025. The ECB will monitor the club every quarter and has the right to observe board and audit committee meetings.

Middlesex’s financial issues, while exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, were triggered by an error in pension payments across a 12-year period which cost the club £500,000 to rectify. The issue, discovered in 2021, meant a registered loss of £952,000 that year, with the published accounts showing club reserves had been reduced to £179,000 from more than £2 million before the pandemic.

Middlesex are unique among the 18 counties in that they do not own their home ground, Lord’s, which they rent from the MCC. This means, for example, they do not earn any extra revenue when the ground hosts international matches and are unable to stage non-cricket events at the venue, which other clubs utilise to turn a profit.

As such, the county are over-reliant on income received from the ECB, which makes up more than 70 percent of their overall figure – £4.733 million out of £6.589 million, according to their latest accounts. This includes including their CPA, plus a further £1.3 million in return for agreeing to the staging of the Hundred.

The ECB will henceforth reduce payments to Middlesex by £150,000, of which £100,000 will be suspended until 31 October 2025. The points deduction, equivalent to the maximum points for one win in each of the County Championship, the One Day Cup and the T20 Blast, is also suspended until 31 October 2025.

The financial plan includes budgets for the period up until the end of October 2025 that show a sustainable year-on-year profit, and limits spending on players within an appropriate budget. In addition, a governance plan will include separating the governance and financial oversight of Middlesex and MCB and understanding the shortcomings in governance that caused the failings identified by the ECB’s investigation.

The punishments handed down are more forgiving than those received by Durham in 2016, which included immediate relegation from Division One, a 48-point deduction for the following season and the loss of Test status. While the situations are different – Durham required a £3.8million bail-out from the governing body – Richard Gould and Richard Thompson, chief executive and chair of the ECB, respectively, are more supportive of the counties than their predecessors.

In a statement released by the ECB on Monday, Gould said: “We have agreements in place with all our county cricket clubs and county cricket boards to ensure that ECB funding is used appropriately and for the purposes in which it is intended. Where breaches of our Regulations and Agreements take place, it is right that we take appropriate action.

“It is vital that all our members have the necessary governance arrangements in place to ensure ECB funding is used appropriately. We will work closely with Middlesex County Cricket Club and Middlesex Cricket Board in the period ahead to ensure the conditions we have agreed are met.”

Andrew Cornish, Middlesex CEO, said: “Middlesex is determined to ensure that the financial management and governance of the Club going forward is of the highest standard and we are resolved to work closely with ECB to ensure that this is the case.”