THE EVOLUTION OF THE MEADOWS

On July 17th, the latest stage of development will begin at Crompton Meadows. Perhaps the most anticipated, and certainly the biggest, project in the club's history is now at hand: the levelling of the ground.

Thanks to several years of hard work behind the scenes and numerous hours spent agonising over plans, ideas and funding sources, we received a grant from Viridor in Spring 2017, finally enabling us to push on with our latest scheme.

In under 10 years, all areas of Crompton Meadows have been transformed, from the installation of an impressive multi-lane net facility at the top end, to complete renovation of the pavilion, two further extensions, mixed changing facilities, a car park used by residents and club members alike, an artificial surface, and a new scorebox. However, this latest project offers perhaps the biggest change to the landscape, with a much changed surface, relaid square, full drainage system, vastly better fencing, and much more.

Ahead of the work, we take a brief pictorial look at the evolution of the ground over the past decade.

Back in 2007 the old pavilion, which had been significantly spruced up, was really showing its age.

So we decided to tackle the inside first, install a bar and see if we could start to generate some revenue and make things a little more habitable. The renovated pavilion was opened in 2009.

NatWest CricketForce days helped us start to tackle various other aspects of the ground.

Later in 2009 the artificial wicket was installed, enabling us to provide better training and support Boxing Day. Even in the snow - though we did have to spend several hours digging on Christmas Eve to locate the wicket!!

However we then decided to get more serious and took on the job of extending the pavilion to make room for functions and a bigger social space.

Next up we decided to get a proper handle on facilities for juniors and seniors by building some proper training facilities. These came along in time for the 2014 season.

Of course this satisfied almost nobody and having also put in a car park, we almost immediately got rid of the side extension to build a two tier extension with balcony, several changing rooms, vast showers and a women's changing space!

You'd think we'd be happy at that point but no, planning was now well underway to get the playing surface sorted. By this time we'd moved from a field hosting 22 players, 2 umpires, one man and his dog to a venue capable of supporting close to 6,000 people for an annual music festival!

One of the big issues we've had over the years has been drainage. Regular visitors to the Meadows will have seen plenty of sights like this one from Christmas 2015.

The new drains, a bigger playing surface, much levelled ground and whizy new fencing and nets will all help continue the transformation of the Meadows. We look forward to seeing you there soon.