Rising to the surface

PITCHING in: former England captain Mark Atherton’s dad Alan, at Woodhouses Cricket Club

WOODHOUSES Cricket Club — where former England captain Mike Atherton started his career — has received a bumper boost in funding.

The club has received almost £50,000 from Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Fund.

The cash will be spent on a new drainage system: seasons of bad weather have played havoc with the pitch and made it dangerous for fielders. The grass surface will also be repaired and reseeded

Committee member Dave Hardman is thrilled with the cash: “Without Sport England and the legacy fund, there’s no way we, a small village club, could have raised that kind of money.

“Their support is absolutely critical and we are very grateful. If we didn’t do the work in a couple of years there would be no cricket here at all.”

Sport England chairman Nick Bitel, said: “The popularity of this legacy fund shows just how important good local playing fields are to grassroots sport.

Over four rounds of project funding, 721 pitches and nearly 2,600 acres across England have been protected and improved.