AFTER enjoying the sun at Taunton on Durham's recent visit, the club's longest-serving director, Bob Jackson, is hoping better weather will boost Twenty20 crowds at Chester-le-Street this season.

The only surviving member of the original board in 1992, 77-year-old Jackson has given more than 40 years of dedicated service to the game and while he's a traditionalist he accepts that T20 has a big role to play.

"Midsummer evenings tend to be much warmer in the south and they pack the grounds in places like Somerset and Essex," he said. "They can charge more than us and still attract 8,000. The income from that is enormous.

"Our T20 crowds average under 4,000 but we're hoping the recent changes in senior staff will result in an injection of income.

"They are looking at areas we haven't tackled before and we attracted 150 from Scotland to sample our corporate hospitality for Sunday's YB 40 match.

"Counties have to earn rather than just rely on the ECB hand-out. We do as well as most but we need to do a lot better and we have to emphasise the regional impact of the club.

"It's been financially challenging over the last 12 months and expenditure on the cricket had to be re-assessed. But the hard work is starting to pay off and the Ashes match could be very lucrative for the club if the weather is good.

"We have also had immense support from the county council and the Local Enterprise Partnership, and the members have always been a great help."

Jackson, a former personnel director with the National Coal Board, is now president of the Lintz club in North West Durham after serving as chairman for 35 years.

He has also switched from secretary to chairman of the Durham Cricket Board, replacing Don Robson after they served together for 42 years, starting when the board was the Durham Cricket Association.

Jackson has also been an ECB director since 1997, representing the recreational game.

"From that flows other positions," he said. "I head up a group responsible for age group cricket, so I have to attend about 12 meetings a year at Lord's. It gives my wife, Maureen, and I a chance to visit our daughter in Kent.

"That was also one reason why we used to love visiting Canterbury, although our favourite trips are to Somerset and Worcester. The South West is similar to home with friendly people.

"We were reminiscing at Taunton about Gareth Breese's 165 not out to win the game in 2004. That was one of the great days of Durham cricket, although it couldn't match the Friends Provident Trophy win at Lord's in 2007. That will live long in the memory and was a wonderful reward for a lot of hard work by many people.

"The rewards are still coming and Mark Stoneman's century at Taunton gave me a lot of pleasure. We know his family well and he's the latest in a long line from the North West of the county to do well, with Paul Collingwood being the shining light."

Jackson took over as Durham chairman when Bill Midgley resigned in 2002 and his anticipated brief reign extended to two years while he and chief executive David Harker looked for the right man to take over.

That man was Clive Leach, who at 78 shows no signs of reducing his commitment, says Jackson.

The only other survivor on the board from Midgley's time is Horden's Joe Sherrington, while others from the region are Frank Curry of the Brambledown landscaping company and Richard Bottomley, a former senior executive with the KPMG accountancy firm.

The other board members live outside the North East, although London-based Bryan Sanderson, the former managing director of BP, hails from Boldon and is a former director of Sunderland FC.

The original board members used to take it in turns to represent Durham at away matches, but now Jackson is happy to do it on a regular basis.

After all his service he deserves his moments in the sun.