The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has pledged £500,000 to facilities affected by flood damage and will begin a series of planned site visits this week.

ECB facilities and investment manager Dan Musson will visit clubs throughout Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Northumberland that were hit by the stormy conditions over the Christmas period.

Money provided by the governing body will be allocated following a period of damage assessment, with the majority of sites expected to be viewed between 13 and 21 January. Around 40 registered clubs have been “seriously affected” by flooding.

“Once we’ve evaluated a club’s costs and needs we’ll provide a grant award immediately,” said Musson. “We will aim to send out grant award contracts within five working days of the site visits – in many cases we’ll do it a lot quicker than that – and then turn around a simple claim process so the money is ideally in a club’s bank account within three weeks of the initial visit.”

Musson will be accompanied on his visits by Ian Mather-Brewster, a regional advisor at the Institute of Groundsmanship (IoG) and former professional groundsman at Middleton Cricket Club in Lancashire.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club chief executive Mark Arthur has also committed to attend site visits within the county.

“We’ll inspect the site and sit down with key committee personnel and perhaps the groundsman to get a feel from the club for what the extent of the damage is, what costs they’ve established immediately, what they’ve already spent and their insurance position, and from there work out what our approach will be,” added Musson.

Musson said it was “absolutely fantastic the way the cricket family has pulled together”, highlighting the number of volunteers “who’ve worked incredibly hard to try and save elements of their cricket ground while their own homes might be significantly affected by flooding”.

The ECB’s fund is one of a number of initiatives launched by national governing bodies in the aftermath of the floods. Sport England has set aside £400,000 for affected facilities, while the Football Association (FA) will contribute £750,000.

Clubs needing further advice and support have been urged to visit the ECB’s flood guidance page or email: [email protected].

Clubs to be visited

Appleby Cricket Club (Cumbria)
Carlisle Cricket Club (Cumbria)
Cockermouth Cricket Club (Cumbria)
Eden Hall Cricket Club (Cumbria)
Kendal Cricket Club (Cumbria)
Keswick Cricket Club (Cumbria)
Rockliffe Cricket Club (Cumbria)
Workington Cricket Club (Cumbria)
Bradshaw Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Croston Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Earby Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Garstang Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Heywood Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Ramsbottom Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Rochdale Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Saddleworth Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Todmorden Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Unsworth Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Walsden Cricket Club (Lancashire)
Corbridge Cricket Club (Northumberland)
Llanrwst Cricket Club (Wales)
Airedale Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Bingley Congs Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Bolton Percy Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Bradford & Bingley Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Bridgeholme Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Copley Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Haworth Road Methodists Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Ilkley Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Masham Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Mytholmroyd Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Olicanian Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Riddlesden Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Saltaire Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Saville Stars Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Shipley Providence Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Silsden Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Sowerby Bridge Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Spofforth Cricket Club (Yorkshire)
Tong Park Esholt Cricket Club (Yorkshire)