The ECB announced on Monday that Durham are to be relegated from the County Championship Division One due to financial issues, with previous relegated Hampshire to be reinstated in their place.
The North East club accepted a bailout of £3.8m approved by the ECB, but have seen strict sanctions places on them in return. Next season will see them start their Division Two campaign with a 48-point deduction, making an immediate promotion unlikely, with further points deductions in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup.
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The ECB's decision to punish Durham for financial mismanagement while allowing other debt-troubled counties to continue on their way has been criticised in many parts by fans and journalists, with ESPNcricinfo's George Dobell noting: "If it is the brutality of the ECB's decision to punish Durham that strikes first, it is the inconsistency that follows close behind."
Durham released a statement from chief executive David Harker on Monday, in which he admitted that the county were "clearly disappointed at the position we are in and the sanctions we have accepted," calling it "important that the club addresses its serious financial challenges and puts the business on a sustainable footing."
The county had seen their survival clinched - in theory - by a Ben Stokes-inspired win over Surrey just weeks earlier.
Hampshire, the main benefactors of the ECB's decision to relegate Durham, also released a statement on the situation, in which chairman Rod Bransgrove offered his "enormous sympathy for Durham and the financial difficulties that they currently find themselves in."