Wii Talk » of the majors for most of the season, Anthon

Financially-stricken Durham have secured a financial rescue package from Durham County Council which will further help to secure the future of professional cricket in Englands most northerly outpost.Durham County Council has agreed to convert loans of ￡3.74m into shares, so freeing the county from interest payments on long-standing debts.Under the ECB-brokered settlement, Durham County Council has agreed to convert its debts into redeemable preference shares. The ECB has restructured Durham as a community interest company, which enables it to distribute up to 35% of profits - should they become available - to shareholders.The council has received interest payments of around ￡700,000 on their loans since 2009 - variously charging 4.7% and 7% annually on the loans. The councils own calculations state that with interest rates at record lows they would only have made ￡140,000 interest in the same period by conventional investments. The agreement follows the ECBs own ￡3.8m rescue package, which included writing off nearly ￡2m of its own loans to the county.That bailout came with punitive measures: the sacking of the Durham board, relegation from Division One of the Championship and penalty points in all three competitions at the start of next season.But Durham can stage ODIs and T20Is and it is here, combined with stringent cost cutting and a growth in their mediocre T20 attendances, where it is hoped future profitability lies.The terms of the ECB rescue package were enforced by the ECB after Durhams long-standing failures to attract investment into the club brought their financial problems to a head this year. Payments to service debt interest were running at nearly ￡1m a year.The ECB told the council that only one party - unnamed - had showed interest, but the approach was rejected because of their fit and proper person guidelines, which are designed to prevent clubs being bled dry by investors without its best interests at heart.Council representatives were told if they also failed to agree to the rescue there was a significant risk that the club would enter administration, leaving the bulk of their loan lost. Durham County Council already owns the land the clubs Riverside ground is built on, and leases it to the club.A cursory Durham statement said: The clubs difficult financial position was brought to a head earlier in the year by the unexpected calling in of a long term loan and the challenge of securing, in time, private development investment.The club is pleased that this has been achieved without the need for significant public debt write off as has been the case elsewhere in cricket.Durhams secrecy has long been illustrated by their refusal to reveal the identity of two long-term financial backers in the Middle East who are no longer involved with the club.Durham County Council has shown rather more detailed commitment to local democracy than the cricket club it has now helped to save.A council report available here states: DCCC had hoped that commercial and residential developments on the site could have provided much needed financial security but it was unlikely that these benefits could be realised quickly enough.Over the last three years the council has worked with DCCC to significantly reduce their costs with circa ￡1million in costs taken out of the business - mainly from a significant reduction on player costs.Similarly, the council has worked closely with the club to drive forward commercial development of the site including a hotel and conference centre which would help derive additional income for the club.Without additional financial support from the ECB via an all creditor agreement and a restructuring of loans or a significant injection of capital from an alternate source, the club could not continue to run on a solvent basis and across the summer appointed an insolvency practitioner to advise the Board on options available to it.The appointed insolvency practitioner (RSM UK) undertook soft market testing to gauge interest in purchasing the club across the summer, although they were unable to find suitable buyers.There has been less support so far in writing off or converting debts into equity from other creditors.Both CR Financial Solutions, a London-based company which focuses on real estate, bought out Durhams outstanding bank debt of ￡788,000, and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, is owed ￡771,000. Both have been unresponsive. The clubs outgoing directors depart with collective debts of ￡415,000 still owed to them.The ECB is expected to take on the bank debt from CR Financial Solutions, so protecting the future of the ground, and further increasing its own indebtedness.It has already agreed to write off nearly ￡2m of loans and, as part of the deal, has withdrawn Durhams Test match status, a convenient solution to the recognition that the dash for growth over the past decade or so has left more grounds seeking Test fixtures than are sustainable. Nike Roshe One Norge . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Air Force 1 Herre Norge .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. http://www.airforce1norge.com/air-force-1-just-do-it.html . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Air Force 1 Norge .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Nike Air Force 1 Salg . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs tried to throw a party. Pinch-hitter Scooter Gennett had other ideas.Gennett hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers spoiled the Chicago Cubs first opportunity to clinch the NL Central title with a 5-4 victory Thursday night.Chicago (93-53) was hoping to begin a 10-game homestand with a boozy celebration of its first division title since 2008. But Keon Broxton homered and Orlando Arcia drove in two runs for Milwaukee, making the Cubs wait for the result of St. Louis game at San Francisco to find out if their season-long dominance of the Central was complete.The crowd of 41,362 cheered loudly when Hunter Pences two-run homer in the first inning against the Cardinals was shown on the video board in left field.Jorge Soler hit a two-run homer for the Cubs, who had won three of four. Mike Montgomery pitched six solid innings and helped himself with a tying single in the fourth for his first career hit.Justin Grimm (1-1) replaced Montgomery in the seventh and the Brewers put runners on first and third with one out. Gennett, batting for Jimmy Nelson (8-14), blooped an 0-2 pitch into the corner in left for a 5-3 Milwaukee lead.The Cubs got one back on Jason Heywards RBI double in the eighth, but Tyler Thornburg threw a called third strike past pinch-hitter Willson Contreras with runners at the corners to end the inning.Thornburg also worked the ninth for his 10th save in 15 chances.Nelson won for only the second time in his last 11 starts as Milwaukee (66-81) improved to 4-4 on an 11-game trip.dddddddddddd The right-hander allowed eight hits, struck out seven and walked two.Even with the loss, its only a matter of time before Chicago clinches the division. But the NL Central crown is not how this group of Cubs will be judged, not this year. After running roughshod over the rest of the majors for most of the season, Anthony Rizzo and Co. are trying to end the franchises famous championship drought, going all the way back to when the Cubs beat the Tigers in the 1908 World Series.Weve got a lot ahead of us. We really do, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said before the loss. It kind of all boils down to how you perform in October.TRAINERS ROOMBrewers: RHP Michael Blazek (right forearm strain) threw a simulated game. Manager Craig Counsell would like to get Blazek into some games before the end of the season, but he said theres no rush. The goal with Mike is just to go into the offseason healthy, Counsell said.Cubs: RHP Pedro Strop, who tweaked his right groin while working his way back from arthroscopic left knee surgery, threw a bullpen session and said it went well. Hes getting close, manager Joe Maddon said. Its not far off.UP NEXTCubs RHP John Lackey (9-8, 3.35 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Chase Anderson (8-11, 4.53 ERA) in the second game of the four-game set on Friday afternoon.---Follow Jay Cohen at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '