by Glenn Pearson

Kent Cricket Club are set to conduct a review of its life membership package which could see it abolished before the start of next season.

A decision will be made at the club’s annual meeting, usually scheduled for March, about whether to continue offering the package to members and if it does stay, the price structure will change.

Life membership has previously cost about £3,000 for supporters aged 60-plus but the club, in releasing their membership and ticket pricing for 2012 last week, have now introduced a price hike to £10,000 which will stand in the months leading up to the AGM.

The move has proved controversial among the county’s membership of which more than 1,200 are life members.

Kent’s chief executive Jamie Clifford said the club decided to increase the price of life membership to offset the likelihood of a significant intake before a decision is made, which he believes would have only "exacerbated the problem."

He said: "If we do not set the prices right then over time and if that continues to grow, there isn’t any annual revenue from those people. I accept from the outset they make a big financial contribution but it has in a sense created a bit of a problem for the club.

"It doesn’t affect any life members we currently have, our commitment to them will be honoured.

"All we are doing is taking some time out to consider what the best way of offering life membership, if we are going to offer it in the future, is. We will do that by the AGM."

Elsewhere, membership prices in the main are similar to those in 2011. All-rounder membership, purchased before the end of the year, costs £200, while the Championship Plus offer, which includes county championship and Clydesdale Bank 40 games, also remains £170.

The club’s Spitfire membership, which offers entry to all home CB40 and Friends Life t20 fixtures, has been reduced from £150 to £120 and includes full benefits such as voting and AGM attendance.