Stars descend on East Sussex

Matthew Hoggard will help out at St James's Montefiore Cricket Club © Getty Images

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It has become quite normal to find plastic plates and bacon butties on a NatWest CricketForce provisioning list but with an eye on all things 'green' in 2008, St James's Montefiore Cricket Club has gone one step further by appealing for bird feeders and seed plus a bunch of logs.

Southdown Nurseries in Steyning have donated 50 bird feeders that will be decorated and named by children over the course of the NatWest CricketForce weekend. They will then be positioned around the club's picturesque grounds, nestling at the foot of the South Downs between Ditchling and Keymer, to attract a greater number and wider assortment of wild birds.

"We will also be building wildlife log piles, which encourage insects, lizards and snakes to bring in more birds," explained Liz O'Neill, who is coordinating the club's 2008 NatWest CricketForce activities this weekend.

"And we are erecting an animal friendly fence on the south side of the ground to stop the sheep roaming on to the pitches."

The picket fencing has been donated by AVS Fencing while Parker Building Supplies have also offered 10 six foot panels plus posts to fence in a machinery compound.

Sussex captain Chris Adams is set to appear on Saturday

The club, which recently purchased an adjoining field to provide a second pitch, has been furiously procuring supplies from across the county to complete the long list of tasks that have to be tackled this weekend such as preparing the pitches, improving changing room facilities, refurbishing the pavilion and building patios.

Harper & Eede and Travis Perkins have both loaned diggers and dumpers to dig out all the trenches and patio areas around the ground and are offering wood for tables and benches plus several pairs of hands to boot. These will include Sussex captain Chris Adams on Saturday and England players Matthew Hoggard and Luke Wright on Sunday, hopefully attracting more willing helpers to ensure the jobs are completed before the weekend is out.

Members of England women's Ashes winning team and the NatWest Cricket Road Show will also be there to lure in the volunteers and, since the club has combined NatWest CricketForce with Chance to Shine, an extra 100 children will be attending for coaching and cricket practice. This should make the upcoming weekend one of the busiest in the club's 25-year history at Ditchling.

Sussex bat manufacturers John Newbery Ltd are supplying dozens of junior cricket sets to use and keep and hundreds of souvenirs for the kids to take home.

Luke Wright will lend a hand at at the Sussex club on Sunday

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Cricket apart, the emphasis is on renovations so the entire pavilion will get a fresh coat of paint and a spruce up - using paint from Dulux and Community Repaint and rollers, brushes, building gloves, sandpaper bought with vouchers donated by Wickes.

As soon as the paint is dry in the pavilion on Sunday, the flooring across the lounge area, three changing rooms, showers and toilets, all supplied for free by Buxton Carpets will go down to mark the end of the weekend. By then, new drainage will have been installed and 150 square metres of patio slabs will have been laid outside the clubhouse using five tonnes of building sand and a ton of cement.

TJ Visual Solutions will have made and erected new signs for the scorebox, which will have been repaired and repainted while all the lighting inside and outside the clubhouse will have been renewed.

No effort has been spared in making sure the volunteers, guests and members are kept well fed and watered with one marquee for food - Forfars are providing 300 bread rolls, sausage rolls and doughnuts - and another for beer.

On the Saturday lunchtime the mother of one of the players is laying on a 'posh' buffet while on Sunday a curry feast will be served courtesy of The Ganges Restaurant followed in the evening by a lively BBQ and a few toasts of thanks.