A County Armagh cricket club has lambasted ABC Council for what it views as a failure to maintain facilities, describing the state of the cricket pitch within Lurgan Park as “inadequate and bordering on dangerous”.
For the past two decades, Victoria Cricket Club has made use of the pitch there.
But now after repeated efforts and calls for urgent remedial works – and no movement on the horizon – they have decided to bring their concerns into the public domain as they feel they have nowhere left to turn.
The local governing body for the sport, meanwhile, have also reportedly intervened but to no avail.
Now Victoria Cricket Club has hit out, questioning why it should have to accept below-standard playing facilities while other sports and clubs continue to have their needs met.
Club spokesperson Andrew Gray said there had been “zero improvements” to the grounds or facilities for cricketers within Lurgan Park.
He told Armagh I: “We have accepted over the years that cricket, being a specialist sport and needing specialist ground work, this is difficult for the council to carry out. However, enough is enough.
“We are constantly just being pushed down the road, being told work will be done, only for excuses and reasons to be thrown at us time and time again.”
Mr Gray said the club had “renewed hope” when the council agreed work needed to be carried out, but were informed that first a report was required to ensure this would be “done correctly”.
“After 10 years of us pointing out exactly what was needed, offering to pay for contractors to come in and do the work, offering to pay for the training of workers in order to carry out the work, the STRI report has been completed,” he said.
“The report confirms almost word for word what we have been saying for 10 years and, furthermore, confirming to the council in black and white. The pitch is simply inadequate and bordering on dangerous.
“The cost of this report is unknown to us but nevertheless it is proving a waste of time and money, as once again the work hasn’t been carried out and we feel the issue is just being dragged out into another winter when the work can no longer be carried out.”
Mr Gray accused elected representatives and council officials of having “sat idly by” while what was needed was “pushed further down the road”.
And he added: “We have seen previous news reports of sporting facilities in the borough not being up to standard. We know the council are more than capable of doing the work, as they have proved time and time again, with grounds like Amargh’s pitch on the Mall, and more locally to us where all the time, money and effort appears to be going, Lurgan Bowling Club.
“We have reached the end of our patience. Our governing body has seen how difficult the council have been around this issue. They have been in calls and meetings with council workers and have said this is the worst they’ve worked with. The contractors we had lined up to do the work has said the same.
“We as a club are trying to progress, not only for our current members, but for the members coming behind us. We currently have four men’s teams, a youth system with approximately 70 kids, and are working hard to have a women’s team, but we are constantly held back by the state of our pitch.
“Providing a safe area for kids and women’s games is impossible due to the state of the wickets. Running kids session on the outfield is often difficult due to the length of grass on the outfield – small simple things that shouldn’t be an issue.
“Length of grass, for example, isn’t an issue for Lurgan Bowling Club. It’s not an issue for Silverwood golf course, Loughgall golf course. It’s not an issue for the countless football and GAA pitches in the borough either. However, the only sports pitch in Lurgan Park, the borough’s pride and joy, is left behind!
“The end of season and pre-season work we have been needing for the last 10 years is something pretty much every club in the country does every year. It can be done in one day by one person, as proved by the contractor we had offered to pay for. However, we are told this would be ‘taking work away from council workers and could become a trade union problem’. Taking away the same work they haven’t done for 10-plus years?”
Mr Gray said he had contacted Armagh I as the club had run out of ideas on how to have the work carried out.
“It needs done and no-one will let us do it or help us get it done,” he added.
ABC Council has been approached for comment.
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