KENT County Cricket Club are back in the black for the first time for three years, turning a loss of £40,123 in 2001 into a profit of £13,242, for the year ending October 31, 2002.

It follows another year of belt tightening and cost-cutting in all areas of the club's operations. The figures will be put before the annual meeting on Monday, March 17.

Best results concern marketing income, up more than £175,000 on the previous year. The department's expenditure rose by nearly £72,000.

Sponsorships, advertising, club shop sales, hospitality box rentals and marquee hire all showed a healthy improvement, while fixture cards, scorecards and programmes produced record sales, up by more than £15,000 on the previous year.

Membership stayed just under the 5,000 mark, but match receipts rose by nearly £58,000, with the floodlit game against Warwickshire and Leicestershire, featuring Steve Waugh's debut for the county, the biggest earners totalling nearly £65,000.

Players salaries went down from £956000 to £907000. This reflects the fact that bonuses were lower than 2001 when the team won the Norwich Union League. The county's catering franchise Morton's Fork had another good year, producing income of £74000 - up £8000 on 2001.

Club chairman Carl Openshaw said: "This is a satisfying result, but we cannot afford to be complacent. Finances in county cricket remain fragile. Some counties have reported substantial losses. Most other counties are finding life challenging and only one or two are making significant profit.

"We have all got to continue working hard and maximising all forms of revenue in 2003, including taking cricket to Beckenham and building on the support in North Kent."

The annual meeting will be held at Canterbury's St Lawrence Ground instead of Hollingbourne as in previous years.