A town’s historic cricket club is urgently trying to raise £12,000 for a new roller to maintain the grounds, and is calling on the community for help.
Thetford Town Cricket Club is one of the oldest in Norfolk with over 200 members of all ages and abilities.
But Mick Piggott, chairman and head coach at the club said without a new roller they will not be able to play the sport they love.
He said: “Our ground has one of the best playing surfaces in Norfolk which has been an unbelievable transformation. What a roller does is allows us to prepare high-quality wickets and surfaces on which to play a good level of cricket on.
“At the moment we have aspirations to play in the Norfolk premier league and our ground is good enough to play in that league.
“Thetford Town Cricket Club’s first team plays in Division One of the Norfolk Cricket Alliance but if our ground couldn’t be prepared to the standard it is at present, we would see ourselves having to slip down the leagues due to the inadequate facilities.
“We bought a second-hand roller some ten years ago and over the winter period because of the pandemic, it wasn’t being used a lot. Since then, it has worn down and no longer works. To buy a new one is about £14,000. But we don’t have those funds available.”
Without a roller, the club is currently paying to hire one which costs around £140 a week - as well as trying to raise funds to build a new pavilion.
But Mr Piggott said this is not just a cricket club, it’s a club which does a lot within the community and he hopes more will come forward to support them in their time of need.
He added: “Time is absolutely of the essence. At the moment we are having to hire a roller which is eating into our club funds. We are also raising funds to build a new community pavilion for the whole town.
“Although the pavilion project is key for us, the day-to-day preparation of the ground is what sustains the club throughout the season.
To donate visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/thetford-cricket-club-roller.
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