PETERSFIELD Cricket Club has raised £100,000 to upgrade and modernise facilities and the pavilion at its home on The Heath.

A hugely significant £75,000 was awarded as a share of National Lottery funding from Sport England which has contributed to the sporting legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games through its Inspired Facilities Fund.

This fund has been helping sports clubs up and down the land breathe new life into community sports facilities and converting existing buildings into venues suitable for grassroots sport.

Petersfield Cricket Club, founded in 1751, has been providing cricket on The Heath for more than 150 years. Their teams currently play in the Hampshire League, but the first XI has previously competed in the high-grade Southern Premier League.

New changing-rooms, a social area, showers and toilets, including facilities for the disabled, will now be installed in the building which dates back to the 1970s.

Club chairman James Stratford-Tuke said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment. It is an exciting step in our plan to upgrade our facilities.

“It not only means that we can modernise our premises to match the quality of our senior players, colts and coaches, but it will help us move forward to recruit new members, especially women and the disabled, and to work more closely with the local community.

“We will have a facility that will not only benefit the cricketing community but the wider community in general.”

He added that a huge amount of work has got the club to this position and he thanked all those involved, particularly grants manager Carolyn Warne, those who have provided partnership funding toward the overall project, the town, district and county councils, the sport’s governing body the ECB and Hampshire Cricket Board, and Sport England for their support.”

Mr Stratford-Tuke added: “We will now be working hard to deliver this project as soon as we can.

“This award will enable the club to move to a new level to provide high-quality cricket and facilities to Petersfield.”