DURHAM County Cricket Club was plunged into disarray last night only weeks after realising its dream of bringing Test match cricket to the North-East.

Chairman Bill Midgley quit amid recriminations at the way his efforts to reform the club's finances had been resisted by "a small but very vocal minority who are opposed to change no matter what the consequences".

Mr Midgley said he had done everything he could to modernise the club and put it on a sound financial footing.

But last night he warned that, unless his successor was able to continue the work he started, the club would face a bleak future.

Durham chairman since 1999, Mr Midgley - who was unsalaried - said he had become the target of members opposed to change, despite saving the club from going into administration.

He revealed how Durham's bank creditors were only weeks away from pulling the plug when he took over in 1999.

Mr Midgley said: "They were already examining alternative uses for the ground such as using it for concerts and as an exhibition centre. I couldn't let that happen."

Since then the club has transformed its fortunes and it realised the dream of bringing Test cricket to the North-East when England played Zimbabwe in May at the Riverside at Chester-le-Street.

But the growing hostility of some members and the increasingly personal nature of their attacks convinced Mr Midley, the former managing director of Newcastle Building Society and past president of the North East Chamber of Commerce, that he should go.

In the end, he said, it all came down to the price of a cup of tea.

"I was trying to run the club on sound business principles," he said. "Unfortunately that upsets members who don't see why they should pay more than thruppence for a cup of tea.

"When you are subjected to some very intense personal abuse over the fact a cuppa costs 75p then it's time to go.

"I put in 30 to 40 hours every week for no pay. Eventually I had to ask why I was doing that for people who just wanted to have a go at me."

Under Mr Midgley's guidance Durham Cricket Club has refinanced its debt which stood at almost £2m, plus annual interest repayments of £130,000.

The club also concluded a deal with Darlington businessman Duncan Bannatyne to open a health club on the site this autumn.

At Mr Midgley's urging, Durham granted Mr Bannatyne a sub-lease on the land for a peppercorn rent. In return the club received a £400,000 payment - cash which helped build a 2,000 seat stand.

"Although we don't get a large rent, the cost of adding 2,000 temporary seats for a big game is £24,000," said Mr Midgley. "That more than makes up for the lack of rent."

The departing chairman said he hoped his resignation would give those who hounded him out pause for thought.

Otherwise he warned: "If they don't continue the modernisation then there are very serious problems on the horizon.

"Television income will fall substantially when the contract comes up for renewal in 2005. The club has to see that now and plan ahead - not stick it's head in the sand. Otherwise it risks tearing itself apart.

"Like it or not, Durham County Cricket Club is a business. If it is to have a future it can't be run on a break-even basis."

Mr Midgley rejected claims by some members that the club has "sold its soul" at the altar of commercialism.

"My role as chairman is to balance the interests of everyone," he said. "That includes the membership and but also the interests of the club's lenders.

"The members only contribute five per cent of Durham's income."

Mr Midgley's predecessor as club chairman, former county council leader Don Robson, who steered Durham to first class status and into the new ground during his 11 years at the helm, was shocked at the news.

"I've spoken to him only in the last few days and I had no inkling of this, I'm absolutely amazed," said Mr Robson, now a club life vice-president.

Comment - Page 8

Tim Wellock's view - Page 26