LYE Cricket Club has been given a helping hand in improving its ground thanks to community grants.

The club has recently purchased a new state-of-the-art wicket cover, wicket flat sheet, scoreboard and surface water Bowdry after being awarded about £5,000 in grants.

Dudley Council gave the club with £3,814, while £1,148 was also gained from the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) Small Grant Scheme.

Jake Hanson, Lye CC’s secretary, said: “The money will have a great impact on the club, as the equipment was in need of replacing.

“Our old wicket covers were more than 30 years old and the sheets were very heavy with holes in, meaning the water would get underneath.

“The new covers are a lot lighter, which is good for our kids teams as the children are now able to push them into place, which they couldn’t do before.

“The new equipment has already proved useful as a few weekends ago we were one of only two teams in the whole of the Worcestershire league who were able to put on a game. This was only possible because of this state-of-the-art equipment.”

Dudley Council granted the money to the club after an application earlier this year to the authority’s Community Forum Fund.

Lye Councillor Mohammed Hanif, Dudley’s deputy mayor, said: “The cricket club offers so much to the local community and it is great that the council can help them protect their pitches.

“The club put forward a community forum grant application, which was agreed upon by the other councillors, and they are using that money to great effect.”