CRICKET: Bridge to better times for ambitious Whiston Parish Church CC

A LONG-ESTABLISHED cricket club is raising its game off the field with the aim of becomind a thriving hub of the local community.

Whiston Parish Church CC might have had a “quiet” season by their standards in the second tier of the Yorkshire Southern Premier League but there is plenty going on behind the scenes.

David Bridge, who took over the chairmanship last September, organises events for a living and is bringing his expertise to bear at Churchfields.

He said: “I want to sort out a commercial model for the club and to develop it to grow the finances to allow us to re-invest back into cricket, not necessarily in players but in infrastructure.

“We’re looking at re-fencing the ground to replace the previous which has been there since the 1960s.

“The Ground Management Association has been up to look at the pitch and to give us a full assessment of how it actually is.

“My job is to turn this club into the centre of the community really.

“As a kid I used to live in Derbyshire at a place call Great Longstone, which was a village club where people lived around the pitch. It’s a bit like that, going back to your youth.”

David is a former cricketer, a passion he inherited from his late dad.

“You get a bit of spirit back,” says the chairman, who has strong local roots.

“I’m chairman of governors at Newman School and have been involved there for a long time so one of the other things I want to do is encourage disabled cricket here.

“Female cricket is another thing and we are progressing Whiston Belles.”

Normally at this stage of a Championship season Church have something to play for but the chances of promotion back to the Premier Division disappeared a while ago.

Church sit just below halfway while the second team is seventh in Division Four.

“We are in a season of consolidation and might be for a couple of years to come,” added David.

“We had two really good pros, one of whom from last season has gone on to play for Pakistan.

“There’s enough quality here to consolidate the position we’re in and as a club we’re moving in the right direction.”