Swindon club hit jackpot (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Swindon club hit jackpot

SWINDON Cricket Club have received a big financial boost from the England and Wales Cricket Board, writes DAVE EATON.

They have received a grant of £12,268 to upgrade the cricket square, and it should have given them the right foundation to prepare good pitches in the future.

Swindon CC is one of the first clubs to benefit from the Government's £9.4 million Community Club Development Programme monies which have been pledged to the ECB and are targeted at upgrading cricket facilites.

The Swindon club were selected for the grant by the ECB as reward for the strength of their junior cricket development programme.

"A lot of hard work went into the original application by Andrew Reid," said Swindon chairman Nick Parkinson.

"He has unfortunately gone to Scotland but we are grateful to him for his help.

"We are pleased that the work we do at junior level has been recognised.

"The junior section is the strongest it has been for many years with over 90 youngsters turning out each week for coaching.

"We have 15 qualified coaches who take the sessions. We are concentrating on the youth section fully and run sides at u9, u11, u13 and u15 level the youngsters are the life blood of the club."

Parkinson continued: "The square has been scarified and relaid.

"It is the first season on it but the new square is playing well.

"It certainly needed some work on it as it was over 100 years old."

And he added: "The club are also hoping to obtain another grant to greatly improve the nets at the ground."

The £9.4 million which has been allocated to cricket is being distributed to selected focus clubs, which all work towards the ECB's agenda to increasing accessibility of cricket to wider sections of the community, particularly junior players.