Pitch-torching yobs put cricket season in doubt

A group of youths who lit a huge illegal bonfire on a South Derbyshire cricket pitch could 'wreak havoc' on a team's season.

The fire-damaged pitch at Ticknall Cricket Club's base in ReptonTicknall Cricket Club revealed that its second ground at Broomhills Lane Playing Field, in Repton, was vandalised after a gang gathered various materials - from wood to rope - and set them alight, leaving a section of scorched earth right in the middle of the cricket pitch.

Now the team's groundsman is working hard to try to repair the damage but fears that nearly 40 games could be in danger if current solutions don't work.

Groundsman Aiden Melen told the Mail: "We were alerted to the fact that there had been a fire on one of the pitches where we play at Broomhills Playing Fields and when we attended we found that there had been a massive bonfire right in the middle of one of the cricket pitches.

"It seems that a group of youths had set fire to everything from rope to wood and left a five-yard square patch ruined.

Read the full article here - http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/Pitch-torching-yobs-put-cricket-season-in-doubt-08032012.htm