Cheadle get Staffs showcasing
Cheadle CC's NatWest Cricket Force organising committee pictured on a special launch event attended by county and ECB development staff
Every year ECB picks five cricket clubs across the country to be our NatWest CricketForce showcase clubs - and the habit is catching around the counties too.
These clubs and the projects they undertake help to inform and inspire others and help to show the benefits of NatWest CricketForce through the media, both local and national.
ECB's Dave Leighton presents the NatWest CricketForce message to the club attendees
County Boards are now following this lead and are starting to adopt their own 'showcase
club'. And Staffordshire have selected Cheadle Cricket Club to work with over the coming months through to CricketForce weekend at the start of April.
The process of selecting showcase clubs started with the development team approaching all 11 Cricket Development Groups in the county. All development groups were then given criteria to forward one club to the final nominations and from there the team drew up a shortlist.
Cheadle CC, after reaching the final two, were selected in a very close contest with both clubs having good projects and Staffordshire Cricket taking in to account the Cheadle club's excellent work in 2008.
The project at Cheadle is a renovation of current facilities. Inside the clubhouse will see the bar and lounge get a makeover, the pavilion, changing rooms and showers get attention as well as a new kitchen and not forgetting revamped toilet facilities.
Outside the areas renovated will see attention to the score box and sightscreens, new netting erected in the practice area, not forgetting the groundsman's shed and work to replace parts of the covers.
Some main structural work on the club is going to take place out of CricketForce weekend and chairman Ian Plant is well on with those plans.
Staffordshire Cricket is proud of the way Cheadle have approached this project and the development team are sure the club will rightly see the 2009 CricketForce programme is started with a bang.
The discussions continue at a meeting of the Cheadle committee early in the NatWest Cricket Force process
