Yesterday marked a proud day for the club, as a small group gathered (in the rain!) to officially open the new three lane practice nets facility at Swindon Cricket Club. The facility represents one of, if not the best, three lane practice nets facility in the County – what a fantastic asset for the club, its members and the wider community.

The project arose as our old nets facility was ageing and reaching the end of its useful life. The new facility sees a full upgrade of all elements of the practice nets, including electric points, extended run ups, full enclosure and a chicane entry area for safety. This facility, which is key to the clubs ethos of developing players, will be used by members across the club from under 9s through to the senior sides, women and girls and the Wiltshire Disability Hub. Net lanes will also be available to hire in due course.

While the nets were not much use at the time of opening due to the rain, the small crowd gathered were able to celebrate the project and saw club legend Kevin Thompson do the honours of cutting the ceremonial ribbon. The club felt it fitting that Kevin was the person to open this new facility in recognition of his decades of tireless promotion of youth cricket, cricket for all, and his dedication to the club and the sport we all love.

At the opening ceremony, Club Chair Daniel Harris also wished to recognise and thank the large number of people/sporting bodies involved in the project. Please join him in thanking the following:

• Community First/Landfill Communities Trust on behalf of Crapper & Sons Landfill Limited, who provided a large grant towards the project. Mary Hardwidge was thanked for her help during the process.
• England and Wales Cricket Board who’s grant was received via the County Grants Fund. Neil Higginson and Pete Sykes were specifically thanked for their help.
• Adamson Pharma who made a donation towards the project. Thnaks to Vice Chair Andy Wiles for the connection.
• The Warren family for the donation received in memory of Alan Warren, who spent many hours at the club and was known by some of our older members.
• Swindon Sports Forum for their donation to the project.
• Swindon Town Football Club for their help in provide power to the nets.
• Everyone involved in the day to day administration of the club and fundraising – without them the grants we received would not be possible and we wouldn’t have raised the substantial sum the club has contributed to the project.
• Our existing sponsors who support the club. In particular, our long term main sponsor Coe Capital Wealth Management, who’s continued support helps make projects like this a possibility.
• Slatters for the top quality install.

Following these words we all retreated out of the rain, to toast the project and those involved in the comfort of the pavilion.