Financial cutbacks have paid off for the Oxfordshire Cricket Board (OCB), which announced a profit of £11,000 for the year at its annual meeting at the Hawkwell House Hotel, Oxford.

The surplus was a major boost for the OCB after it had reported losses of £11,000 and £21,000 for the last two years.

OCB chairman Chris Clements told the Oxford Mail that cost-cutting and the bad weather, which forced numerous cancellations, had helped bring about the turnaround.

“We spent a lot of time last winter looking at every bit of unnecessary costs, and nothing suffered,” he said.

“Just over the years things had got a bit layered and a bit fat.

“We also saved money because of the weather. We are starting to see the benefits of the savings that we made on administration.

“The rot has been stopped this year.”

He said that the OCB had £105,000 in the bank, although the county was far from self-sufficient as it relied heavily on funding from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Clements added that one spin-off from the upturn in the OCB’s finances was that they would be able to keep Ashley Rump on as cricket development manager next year.

“We are starting to see the benefit of Ashley and Rupert (Evans, head of cricket) being full-time employees,” he said.

Ian Hawtin, who retired from the game at the end of the season, had his service as a captain and player recognised by the meeting, which also welcomed his successor, Luke Ryan.

Alan Crossley, who stepped down as a selector at the start of the season, was made an hononary member for his services to the game.

“Sadly I think we were one ball away from winning the Minor Counties Championship (Western Division),” said Clements reflecting on Oxfordshire cruelly being denied victory against Cornwall by the rain when their opponents were nine wickets down in their second innings.

Clements picked out Oxfordshire Under 17s winning ECB County Championship Division 3B, and Oxfordshire’s women gaining promotion to County Championship Division 3 as the highlights.

The OCB are now concentrating on their strategy for 2013, with an open meeting to be held at the Oxford Academy on January 15 (6.30pm).

“It is about developing the picture for the future of cricket in Oxfordshire,” added Clements.