Saltaire prepare for CricketForce 2005

The 'Half Moon' building at Saltaire CC is being refurbished

NatWest CricketForce 2005 will mark the culmination of a huge project at Saltaire Cricket Club in Bradford which has seen a Victorian building converted to be used jointly as a clubhouse and centre for youth activities.

England internationals Matthew Hoggard, who lives in nearby Baildon, and James Anderson will be on hand in the morning to lend their support to around 100 volunteers who will put the finishing touches to the work which began back in November.

A number of local dignitaries will be at the ground to welcome the players, who will also give coaching to youngsters, and the ECB Roadshow will ensure the children are kept entertained.

Saltaire is one of seven clubs chosen to receive visits from England stars across the CricketForce weekend, which is currently in its fourth year, and 650 clubs across the country are registered to participate.

The event was pioneered by Lingfield CC in Surrey and participation has grown by 6,000 per cent since 2002.

Saltaire CC, working in partnership with the Bradford Youth Service and the Parks Department, are refurbishing the building (called the ‘Half Moon’ because of its shape), to provide a facility which the whole community can use, as well as working on the current pavilion.

Saltaire CC Community Officer Ed Duguid told ecb.co.uk: “The project which we’ve been doing has been ongoing for some time now. It’s an old Victorian building which we’re doing as a partnership between ourselves, the council, the youth service and various other people.

The pavilion will be painted

“In the longer term the whole park is bound for a major renovation to bring it back to its Victorian glory because Saltaire itself is a World Heritage site. This building was built in 1870 by Titus Salt and given to the club as a clubhouse.

“In the early 1990s it fell into disuse and was taken over by the council. It basically became a semi-derelict building and we decided as part of our contribution and in need for us to have a proper clubhouse that we would get together with various other groups and bring it back into use.

“We’ve been working on that since November and local firms have donated free carpets, kitchens, lighting, etc. We had gas lighting in there but there’s never been any electricity so we brought that in from the edge of the park and now we are renovating the inside of it.

“CricketForce brings that pretty much to a conclusion, where the volunteers will be painting it out and fitting the kitchens, all that sort of stuff. A local paint firm, Manor Paints, have given us free paint so the whole of the outside of the pavilion and changing rooms are being done at the same time.”

With Hoggard and Anderson flying in by helicopter on Sunday and the presence of the ECB Roadshow, it promises to be a hectic weekend for all those involved and club officials are thrilled at the way the project has come to fruition.

Matthew Hoggard and England team-mate James Anderson will arrive by helicopter

“It’s very exciting for everyone involved,” added Duguid. “It all started from a conversation at the end of the season when someone rather glibly said we really ought to do something over the winter to improve our facilities.

“From that it grew and grew into an enormous project. We’ve been liaising with the council and they’ve helped in certain ways, and local contractors have been coming and giving their time and use of their equipment.

“It’s all had to be pulled together into a proper project and we’ve certainly used the lessons of Lingfield and other people to make sure we’ve got all areas covered.

“The beauty of this is that everybody has been involved. The whole point of doing this is also to have a regular venue for a youth club in the area so it is about us trying to reposition ourselves as a community club and make ourselves relevant to everybody rather than just to a very small cricketing fraternity.

“It’s changing the nature of the way the community sees the cricket club, which we see as quite important.”