HAYDN Cook, the local businessman who rescued the Jets from extinction in September, found the financial burden of running the club too much to bear.

With the season only a few weeks old, Cook dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he told the club’s contracted players they had been released.

He also asked for this Sunday’s match against Mersey Tigers to be postponed.

Cook said: “I tried. I had a lot of support, particularly from our sponsor Terry Hearfield who has been fantastic, but in the end the costs just didn’t add up.”

Cook hopes he can continue to run the Jets’ community programme, Cheshire Jets Foundation.

In a statement released earlier this week, he said: “The Jets Foundation will continue to function as we feel it is vital for development of basketball.

“The Jets have also run an extremely successful Summer Basketball Camp for many years, and we would like to assure fans and participants, that as of this time the Cheshire Jets Summer Camp 2013 will go ahead.”

But for the players, the future remains uncertain.

Stand-in coach Chez Marks told The Chronicle: “I’m just waiting to see what happens. I’m not going home just yet, but I don’t know much about the situation.”

Shawn Myers, who stepped up to assist Marks when he was appointed as coach last month, was similarly perplexed.

“No-one has told us how this has happened,” he said. “All we have been told is that we have been released.

“I was led to believe the club had enough money to guarantee the season and I don’t know what went wrong.”