Hailsham Cricket Club counts cost after vandalism
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Published Date: 14 April 2010 - Eastbourne Gazette
A CRICKET club is counting the cost of an attack by vandals last Thursday (April 8) which has damaged the main playing areas just weeks before the start of its season.
Youngsters are believed to have created a bonfire on two of the seven pitches at Hailsham Cricket Club, which spent almost £1,000 getting its Western Road ground ready for its first home league game on May 8.
The club's captain, Rob Wilkinson, labelled it 'a kick in the teeth'. He told the Gazette, "We've spent quite a lot of money on the pitches, fertilising and seeding them in time for our first game.
"Our headquarters at the Hailsham MI Club got a phone call from the police to say that something on the square was on fire. "Whoever did it has got wooden pallets from a builder's merchants and piled up bicycles, bottles and anything else they could find to burn on it."
The club uses seven pitches which it rotates throughout the season, and Mr Wilkinson said the damage was likely to rule two of them out until the later summer months.
He said, "The groundsman assessed the damage on Saturday and the groundsman thinks we could have one of them back in July. "But it's a real kick in the teeth for it to happen a few weeks before the start of the season."
Police believe a group of youngsters were responsible and said their inquiries continue.
Anyone with information should call Hailsham police station on 0845 60 70 999, quoting serial 1734 of April 8. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
