UPPERMILL CRICKET Club is celebrating after securing a £50,000 grant from Sport England.
“It is great news and it ought to cement cricket at the club for the next 25/30 years,” explained a delighted chairman Chris Bird.
The money is to be spent on extensive ground improvements including remedying a drainage problem, levelling the pitch and renewing an artificial wicket.
Due to the scale of the project, the scheduling means that work won’t start until the end of the 2015 season.
Mr Bird said: “We would like to start just before the end of next season, but that would mean having to speak to the league about reorganising a couple of games.
“But when you look at the long-term benefits for the club, it will be worth the minimal inconvenience it will cause.”
Uppermill, of the area’s most ambitious and progressive clubs, have also been re-accredited for the ‘Clubmark’ status which is awarded as a measure of excellence and high standards.
It is six years since Uppermill were first awarded Clubmark and it enables them access to funding through the England and Wales Cricket Board and other external bodies.
On the field, Uppermill’s second team finished the season in style winning the Moore Cup beating Friarmere by five wickets in the final.
It was Uppermill’s first Moore Cup success since 1987 and a personal triumph for 80-year-old Cec Wright who was named man of the match.
Cec, who was spotlighted in the Independent earlier in the summer, bowled nine overs and had a haul of two wickets for 10 runs.
It was also a first for Cec, a previous winner of the Tanner Cup and CLL’s Wood Cup, as he had never won this piece of silverware before.
Meanwhile, Uppermill are holding a Comedy Night at the Royal George, Greenfield, on Saturday, October 18, Tickets priced £10 are available from Chris Bird: 07891 239107.
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