ECB announces flood relief

31 July 2007

The England and Wales Cricket Trust Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has made a relief fund available for those cricket clubs affected by the recent flooding and has released information on how to apply for that funding click here.

At present there is £250,000 allocated to support ECB-affiliated clubs who have been affected and the ECB is lobbying for more support and match funding.

The funding is limited to a maximum of £5,000 per club, but the EWCT reserves the right to award up to £10,000 in extreme cases.

The relief fund is set to support start-up projects and is designed to maximise the prospect of cricket returning to the club site in terms of access and the field of play.

The fund is not designed to support major building works or the installation of flood defences.

The relief fund is only open to clubs that can evidence severe disruption or closure from the recent flooding.

Clubs that have had their league programme affected but are substantially still operating are not eligible for funding.

Any offer made is based on acceptance within 30 days, after which time the offer will lapse and the funding will be reallocated to other needy clubs.

Funding will be limited to the utmost priority in returning cricket to the site and could include the following:

Enabling works such as access roads and services (subject to consents)

Ground works - square, outfield and drainage

Decontamination (subject to consents)

General clearance and clean up

Purchase or hire of machinery to aid the process

ECB chief executive David Collier said: “The weather this summer has created serious problems for cricket clubs at all levels of the game.

"Many of the club grounds are the centres of the community and we, at the ECB, felt it was important to do our best to support them at this difficult time."

Click here for further details on how to apply for funding.