Dabbers cricket club plans declared all clear (From Warrington Guardian)

Dabbers cricket club plans declared all clear

NANTWICH Cricket Club is set to expand its facilities in a bid to attract more youngsters to the game.

Planning chiefs at Nantwich Town Council gave the ambitious ECB Premier League club the green light to its extension plans on Monday.

Included in the development is a new ground for the club's junior sides on land between the existing ground and Middlewich Road.

A four-lane cricket net practice area will also be built thanks to funding from the England and Wales Cricket Board and £8,500 from the town council.

The Dabbers were among eight clubs in Cheshire to receive a grant of up to £50,000 handed out by the government to the ECB to improve grounds and enhance facilities.

Club chairman, John Prince, said: "We are hoping to develop a smaller pitch for our under 11s which will be a lot smaller than the senior pitch.

"It will include an artificial wicket and will be far more appropriate for them because the pitch they currently use is too big and we have to rope off the boundary.

"The four-lane practice area will be for everyone in the club to use and more of our senior players are going on coaching courses which will help improve everyone's standards."

Things are looking up for the Whitehouse Lane club on and off the pitch, after the Dabbers completed the most successful season in its history last year.

"We have to keep moving forward. The new ground is for girls as well as boys and everyone is allowed to join the club," added Mr Prince.

"We are also hoping to lower the age groups right down to five and six-year-olds which is one of the ECB guidelines."