RISHTON CC came up trumps financially in a very poor summer for cricket, recording an overall profit of £4,384.

One of the major factors was a much-improved performance on the social side, where a net profit of £1,109 was recorded even after a donation of £7,200 to enable the cricket side to show a surplus of £3,275.

And the cricket club accounts also showed that expenses had been drastically reduced in the year to the end of September, not least the cost of the professional.

Corrie Jordaan came much cheaper than Meyrick Pringle.

Wages and national insurance showed up as just £3,690, plus £1,795 for travelling and accommodation, compared to the 1997 figure of £13,000 (travelling and accommodation £1,243).

Rishton chairman Rod Simpson explained that the true wages figure was actually closer to £5,000, with some of the money having already been allocated to the accounts.

But having a much cheaper pro clearly made a big difference and he added: "In the circumstances it is a good result." Costs fell from £30,303 to £19,637, although income was slightly down from £23,973 to £22,912 with clubs hit by poor weather.

On the social side, gross profit out of bar takings of £103,026 (£100,466 in 1997) was £40,457 (£34,152).

After wages and expenses, the Social Club showed a surplus of £9,309 (£3,854) and were able to pass over £7,200 to the cricket side and still show a profit.

The annual meeting of the social club will take place in the clubhouse at Blackburn Road on Monday, January 18 (8.15pm). The cricket agm is the following Monday, January 25 (8.15pm).

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.