Club’s first win since horses destroyed pitch
HUNWICK Cricket Club won their first home game of the season just weeks after stray horses destroyed the pitch, jeopardising their campaign. (May 16 edition)The club house has also been the victim of vandalism, but players and officials are pleased with the work done by local authorities to ensure they’re club will survive. A spokesman said: “Last year was difficult for the cricket club.
“We had windows smashed and mains water disconnected when Dyson’s brick yard closed part of its operations. “Players and officials at Hunwick Cricket Club would like to thank Wear Valley District Council and Cllr Ken Bowser for their effort.
They provided shutters, mains water and electricity to the pavilion. ‘The work of Bill Oxbrough and Joanne Crumpling from Groundwork West Durham has also been a great success.”
There had been fears that the cricket season would have to be cancelled after a herd of stray horses which had previously plagued Hunwick moved onto the pitch. At the time, Cllr Ken Bowser described it as a “scene out of Bonanza” and said it was very unlikely the cricket club would be able to start the new season.
Cllr Bowser said: “Any referee who sees the state of the pitch will refuse to let people play on it and abandon the match.” Despite some remaining damage to the outfield areas, play commenced on Saturday after twice being postponed due to the rain.
John Pratt from the club said: “The weather was excellent on Saturday and we got off to a good start beating Simonside from South Shields.”
