Each year before Seaham and District Cricket Club’s new season gets underway repairs must be made to the sight screen on the boundary of Brandon Park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Propping up the screen, which helps cricketers see the ball being bowled at them, has become part of the annual pre-season preparations.
Club members drive new pickets into the ground near the old posts that are barely holding up the 30 year old screen.
“Because of the water down where the screen is, the bracing where it goes into the ground, it rusts,” the club’s vice president and long-time member Bob Adams said. “When the season starts you have to brace it again. We’ve had to prop it up every year for the past 30 years.”
The cricket club will receive an all new sight screen plus a replacement for its rusted awning off the clubhouse at Brandon Park following a successful grant application to the NSW ICC World T20 Cricket Legacy Fund by Port Stephens Council.
The aim of the World T20 Legacy Fund, delivered through the NSW Government, is to help clubs and councils make improvements to cricket infrastructure, grow female participation and host cricket events across regional NSW communities.
Port Stephens council was granted $23,750 which it will match dollar-for-dollar to replace the side screen and awning.
Seaham Storm Baseball Club will also benefit from the cricket grant, as it uses the Brandon Park clubhouse in winter.
Brock Lamont, Port Stephens Council’s community and recreation coordinator, said replacing the awning had been on the council’s radar for some time.
“Council had planned for an awning replacement but the T20 fund came up and we saw it as an opportunity to carry out both projects,” he said. “The awning, which is used by the cricket club in summer and baseball club in winter, is heavily rusted.
“The awning is really important for cricket in summer. It's protection for players against the heat and sun. But it's not just for players but spectators as well to come and watch the game and for volunteers.
“The sight screen, while it has recently been painted, has a poor condition rating. It's well and truly ready for a renovation.”
The outcomes of the upgrades is to create quality, welcoming facilities that support player and spectator participation; foster club development, encourage player retention and attract new members; and support an active, healthy and connected community.
The Port Stephens Council project is one of the first to be approved as part of the $6 million World T20 Legacy Fund.
Fifty-five projects were approved in the first round of funding, which amounts to about $1.96 million.