Notts members were told that the club had recorded a pre-tax surplus of £148,426 for the year ending 30th September 2008 at last night’s Annual General Meeting at County Hall.

Presentations from Vice-Chairman Richard Tennant, Director of Cricket Mick Newell, Chief Executive Derek Brewer, Chairman of the Commercial and Financial sub-committee Ray Dawson underlined the club’s pride in the achievements of 2008.

“We saw the benefits of significant investments in the venue and the team in 2008 and it is pleasing to have recorded a pre-tax surplus,” said Ray.

“Like any business, we won’t be immune from the economic downturn but I firmly believe that we have laid sufficient foundations to emerge strongly when recovery comes.”

Derek Brewer recapped the off-field developments that paved the way for the successful bid to co-host June’s ICC World Twenty20. He reported that work on the new drainage system and re-graded outfield was ahead of schedule and that the programme of re-developments had given the club short-term competitive edge.

He confirmed that opportunities to further enhance the venue were being explored.

Mick Newell said that the club’s second-place finish in Division One of the LV County Championship was a ‘fair reflection’ on the team’s performance and paid tribute to the bowling attack for their consistency.

“The bowlers were superb throughout the season and we’ll be looking for our top order batsmen to show an improvement to help the middle order,” said Newell.

“Planning for 2009 has been challenging because of the uncertainty surrounding the availability of our England players. We should treat any appearance by Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad as a bonus and we also expect Samit Patel and Graeme Swann to be away for long periods.”

Nat Puri was appointed as President of the club, succeeding Bill Russell who stands down after two successful years in office.

Notts captain Chris Read closed the meeting by thanking the committee for the award of a benefit year. His first event, a benefit dinner, will be held at the East Midlands Conference Centre on Friday 20th March.