Quatt Cricket Club - New 3-Lane Practice Nets

Aim

Nets are an integral part of any cricket club. We desperately need to install new net after our old nets were removed for safety reasons.

History

Founded in 1908, Quatt Cricket Club is a traditional English cricket club based in south east Shropshire. In the last decade Quatt Cricket Club has established itself as a premier village side in the area, not only in terms of playing strength but also its facilities and dedicated boys and girls pathways. The club has been ECB Clubmark accredited since 2009, which shows that the club is sustainable, well run and provides the right environment for all of its members. 

Club Development

In 2012 our brand new pavilion was officially opened and further grant funding followed in 2016, which we used to add a second pitch and additional changing facilities. These developments have allowed the club to grow and establish:
5 adult men’s teams (3 on Saturdays, 1 on Sundays, and 1 midweek)
1 ladies Sunday league team
1 ladies development team
A growing junior section with over 80 junior members running Under 9s, Under 11s, Under 13s and 12- 16 girls teams.

Covid Impact

Following two years of disruption, many youngsters have drifted away from the game as they were unable to train or play regularly. We desperately need new facilities to attract them back and make them fall in love with the game again. Our junior section is the future of our club, and we want to be able to give them the best facilities possible so that they can develop their skills and get the most out of the game.

Current Practice Facilities

Due to our ambitions and current playing membership our current training facilities are very stretched. We used to have 2 practice lane nets, however these had to be taken down due to safety reasons. This has left the club desperately short of quality practice areas. We currently use an artificial wicket and a roll on net to facilitate training, however this means that numbers are severely limited and therefore training has to be split over a number of nights. 

New Training Plans

We have drawn up plans to build a 3 lane net facility that would allow all teams to train on the same night, which would support the transition of players between teams and make our cricket performances stronger. This would also allow for structured women’s training as we know there is a barrier for many women around the county to access summer training facilities if not well established in a club environment. Finally, these new facilities would be used during our Friday night junior coaching, which often attracts in excess of 60 children each week.

Fundraising

The cost of these new nets will be around £45,000. We have a number of fundraising initiatives planned, including this campaign, such as a recent quiz night and a planned family fun day. All these initiatives are aimed at not only current members, but prospective new members and the wider community.

This project successfully funded on 10th June 2022