Volunteers thanked for preparing wet Shropshire cricket pitch by hand – BBC News

A village cricket club has thanked volunteers for getting its season underway with push-mowers and manual tools, because the ground was too wet for drive-on mowers.

Hodnet and Peplow Cricket Club, based in north Shropshire, is among many which have struggled with a wet start to the season.

But teams of supporters, some with their children in tow, mowed by hand, and raked and treated the field to get it ready.

Secretary Matt Watkins said: “It really made a difference to getting our season up and running, so I can’t thank people in the club enough.”

Mr Watkins told BBC Radio Shropshire’s Cricket Show: “It was the worst I’d ever seen it in terms of standing water and squelchiness, and we literally couldn’t get anything on the outfield.

“We couldn’t roll it, we couldn’t get the contractors to cut the outfield. It would have just sunk in to it.”

He said the volunteers mowed the outfield on drier weekends in April, then raked up the grass to make the surface playable for the start of the season.

Many clubs across the region suffered from waterlogged pitches at the beginning of the season, with some delaying the start of the season as the rain continued.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said climate change had had a significant impact, and a recent study showed more than a third of recreational cricket clubs were at risk of flooding.

Mr Watkins said: “Fortunately, with the Shropshire League delayed by a week… that really helped, so we’ve been in the fortunate position where we’ve not lost any games.

“Things need a little bit more rolling, tidying round the edges. But considering where we were at the start of April, it’s been a fantastic job by everyone at the club.”