UTTERLY outrageous is the only way to describe the actions of the England and Wales Cricket Board in handing out their draconian punishment to Durham.

It is deemed to be necessary because the other first-class counties would query why Durham should effectively be refloated without paying the price. It is also a warning to the others that they must have a sound business plan in place.

In handing them money to write off some of their debts, the ECB insist they have gone further than ever before to keep a club alive, believing it will help to bring in other potential investors.

It highly questionable, however, whether sponsors and investors will be attracted to a county which will start next season 48 points adrift at the foot of division two.

The ECB's generosity has come not so much with strings attached as a noose. Durham's proud record run in division one has been terminated with a savagery which beggars belief.

The ECB statement talks of the “unprecedented seriousness” of the financial position. Yet Glamorgan had to have £6m of debt written off by their local authority, and Warwickshire had their repayments on a £20m council loan suspended.

Yorkshire's debts are around three times those of Durham, but that's considered to be acceptable because those debts are stable, whereas Durham's are spiralling.

With income falling short of expectations, Durham have been guilty of over-borrowing, prompted by the ECB's foolishness in encouraging nine Test venues to upgrade and fall over each other in bidding for matches.

They didn't exactly do Durham a favour this year in awarding a Test match against Sri Lanka in May, shortly after the Headingley Test. Yorkshire fans who would have been happy to come to Durham could hardly be expected to attend both.

The ECB's predecessors, the Test and County Cricket Board, made it a condition of Durham's first-class status that they build a Test stadium. Now the euphoria which surrounded the staging of an Ashes Test in 2013 has crumbled to dust.

Will Emirates want to continue sponsoring a stadium housing a lowly second division team and where the only international cricket will be of the short variety? Doubtless other sponsors will consider their position.

Building a Test venue now seems like a huge mistake and the ECB should admit that and show some leniency.

Instead they sit on huge reserves as an insurance against things like   a royal funeral having an impact on their income. They could lend some of that money to hard-up counties at a more reasonable rate of interest than the 7.49 per cent the Local Enterprise Partnership charges Durham.

There also seems little sense in punishing Durham for the profligacy of a board which will now cease to exist. The ECB will install a new chairman and Clive Leach will not be the only one stepping down, so the newcomers will be condemned to starting out firmly on the back foot.

When Leach was head-hunted to take over in 2004 he succeeded former Newcastle Building Society boss Bill Midgley, who ran a tight ship. But after starting to improve during David Boon's three years as captain, the team had returned to the foot of division two.

Leach was prepared to spend in building a successful team as well as the stadium and under him a new board evolved, including people like former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens. Most of them live outside the North East and are rarely seen at matches.

When chief executive David Harker announced he was leaving three years ago to run his own business he was persuaded to carry on in a part-time capacity. Those in the know stress that he is in no way to blame for the financial mess, but it would be no surprise if he were now considering his position.

He has repeatedly stressed that Durham were working hard to build a sustainable future and will be more stunned than anyone by this massive kick in the teeth.