Youngsters were the first to use the new state of the art practice nets which have been completed with help from Darley Dale Town Council at Darley Dale Cricket Club.
Over recent winters the club’s existing nets were damaged by repeated flooding. The only solution to this problem was to consider moving the nets to a higher part of the ground. This would prove very costly but the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] stepped in with considerable help.
The facility is an enclosed cage housing 2 practice wickets which is state of the art, meets the ECB standards and is also flood resistant. This is a huge improvement in the club and the community facilities.
The club is one of Darley’s oldest institutions, founded in 1863 at its beautiful Station Road ground. It is entirely amateur with many valuable committed volunteers. All funds raised are ploughed back into cricket to keep the costs of playing as low as possible. There are 3 senior teams, many junior teams and a rapidly growing women’s’ section. The club’s pride and joy is its junior section with over 100 participants from age 5 upwards.
In recognition of the club’s importance as a cricket hub and its very successful work with junior and women’s cricket the ECB stepped up with an offer of £47,400 to help provide the new facilities. The total cost is £65,000 and the club had to bridge the funding gap. The first to step up to help was Darley Dale Town Council with an offer of a £3,000 grant in recognition of the important part the club plays in the community, especially with juniors. In addition, The Duke of Devonshire Charitable Trust contributed £2,500 and CVS Better Derbyshire Dales £1,400. Our local District Councillors contributed £650 via the Dales Local Projects Fund and our County Councillor £100 via the Community Leadership Scheme. All of which the club is very grateful for. The remaining costs were found from club fundraising efforts.
Chris Hartley Chair of the Cricket Club said ‘The support of the local community for this project has been truly wonderful and heart warming. The new facilities are a great improvement for many years to come. We are very proud to play our part in providing facilities for community activity for everyone.
The nets work was carried out by Dura Sports and the access track re-alignment was carried out by local contractor Dakin Shimwell.
The club offers a warm welcome to everyone whether as a player, volunteer, parent or spectator to its beautiful ground, pavilion and bar. See the club website www.darleydale.play-cricket.com/home
Darley Dale Town Council runs a grant scheme that offers practical financial support to voluntary and community groups, clubs, local charities and not-for-profit organisations where the use can be shown to be of benefit to Darley Dale or residents of Darley Dale. A grant application form can be found on our website, alternatively, please email town.clerk@darleydale.gov.uk