Abbeyfield’s cricket facility was finally opened on 21st April, with the help of England cricketer Ryan Sidebottom.
Children from the local primary schools were there to test the new arena, and they gathered at the wicket to cheer Ryan's official opening words followed by a couple of sixes over the fence.
The former tennis court has been resurfaced and new fencing is in place. Even when it was in a state of disrepair the area was regularly used for cricket by local people, which sparked the investment by npower, in partnership with the Council.
Activity Sheffield's cricket development officer, Alex Morris, explained that this was just the start:
“There will be cricket sessions here soon, which anyone can come to. We are working with local people who are training to be cricket coaches, which will increase the amount of sessions we can do locally. We've also seen new school cricket teams start to compete this month for the first time. And we've helped local young people progress in to Yorkshire teams.”
Watch out for updates on local cricket sessions on the Messenger website.
