County Cricket News / Updates Thread - 2016 Season

Durham have been relegated from Division One of the County Championship over financial issues, with Hampshire being reinstated.
The North East county have also lost the right to stage Test cricket at their Riverside ground.
Durham have accepted a £3.8m financial aid package, which has been approved by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
They will start next season in Division Two with a 48-point deduction.
Durham will also face a four-point penalty in the 2017 T20 Blast and a two-point deduction in the One-Day Cup.
Additionally, the club will be subject to a revised salary cap from April 2017-2020, with the level determined annually by the ECB board. All prize money from ECB competitions, except for player awards, will be withheld until the club's debt to the national governing body is cleared.

With their ridiculous test match bidding process the ECB have caused this - it's a bot rich that they then treat Durham very harshly.

Also why not have a play-off between Hampshire and Kent to decide who plays in Div1 (maybe in Sharjah??)