Bowled over!

WOODHOUSES Cricket Club have received a grant to improve training facilities at the Medlock Road ground.

CRICKET:

Woodhouses’ joy at cash windfall
WOODHOUSES have received a cash boost from the England and Wales Cricket Trust.

A grant of £36,229 has been handed to the Lees Brewery Lancashire County League Division One outfit, which goes towards the cost of a two-bay synthetic practice area and separate training zone and match pitches.

The club were identified by the Lancashire Cricket Board and the ECB as possessing strategic and developmental importance to the grassroots game.

Woodhouses chairman Phil Sutcliffe said: “We were delighted when we were awarded the grant because we desperately needed to upgrade our coaching and practice facilities.

“The new synthetic practice nets are excellent and will benefit our senior players and junior cricketers.

“We have more than 60 juniors at the club and these pitches provide the ideal environment for the development of young players.

“Our qualified ECB coaches will now be able to introduce a much more structured coaching programme for all age levels, and the new facilities have given the whole coaching and training programme a real boost.”

Sutcliffe believes the grant represents the latest in a series of strides taken by the club.

He added: “We have made good progress in recent years. We have achieved ECB Clubmark and Focus Club status, enabling us to apply for the grant in the first place.

“We are extremely grateful to the England and Wales Cricket Trust because as a village community club, we could not afford such an expensive project with our resources.

“We regard the grant as an investment in cricket at the club for the future and the facilities will be of benefit to the community.”

Brian Havill, EWCT Trustee, added: “The Trust is pleased to support projects that sustain high quality participation and enhance facilities.

“It is important that cricket clubs have access to funding, such as through this grant aid programme, that allows them to make their facilities available to the local community.”