Cricket Club Slams Vandals: The chairman of a cricket club has voiced his anger after their pitch was vandalised ahead of an all-important title decider.
Players and officials at Bradenham Cricket Club were left devastated last week after groundsman Brett Gates arrived to find the outfield desecrated with tyre marks.
Mr Gates subsequently took to social media to call out the “mindless damage”, branding the offenders “muppets”.
And now Tim Evans, chairman of the club, has blasted those responsible for spoiling a highly-valued community asset.
“It is just so disappointing to see,” said Mr Evans. “Whoever’s done this has just mindlessly driven round the pitch and even on the square as well. You can still see the circles where they have gone round.
“We’re fortunate that the ground itself was not that wet at the time. It was a bit damp but, had it been wet, the damage would’ve been much worse.
“We’ve had a really good year and Brett and others have put in untold work on the outfield to keep it looking nice – not just for the club, but for the whole village.
“It is just so frustrating – after all the hard work that’s been put in – to see the pitch ruined by some idiots who think they are clever. They’ve achieved nothing by doing this, other than making a complete mess of something in their own village.”
As Bradenham First XI prepares for its final game of the season at home to table-toppers Great Melton on Saturday (August 31), the club feels the pitch could barely have been damaged at a worse time.
A win will see second-placed Bradenham leapfrog their rivals into top spot, handing them the Norfolk Cricket Alliance division three title.
“Having this match against Great Melton on Saturday is all the more reason to be disappointed about the damage,” added Mr Evans.
“We’ve cut the grass and been round the pitch with a roller which has flattened out the marks as best we can ready for the weekend.
“Bradenham’s promotion has not been confirmed yet as there are all sorts of other factors that come into it, but as far as we know and as far as we’ve been told, it looks 99pc sure that we’re going up.”
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