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Exmouth Cricket Club has been awarded a large grant to replace its worn out cricket nets at the Maer Ground.

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The sum of £54,000 has been provided by Viridor Credits (90 per cent) from the Land Communities Fund and the ECB (10 per cent).

The project has now to be registered with the Government’s environmental body, Entrust, before works can start.

The existing nets were opened almost 20 years ago by Martin Moxon of Yorkshire and, then Club President, Dame Mary Bridges.

They have seen enormous levels of use over that time by the Club Colts and Senior teams, the Devon Cricket Board and many of the local schools from around the area and are now in a very poor state of repair.

Exmouth Club Chairman, Richard Butler, who was present when the original nets were opened said: “This is a tremendous boost for the Club and hopefully these brand new state of the art nets will attract many new players. In particular we want to target our local schools who have all been so supportive of the project. Many letters of support have also been provided by local bodies and individuals including, Exmouth Town Council, the Devon Cricket Board and Eileen Wragg, our County Councillor.”

Sandy Allen, the former Warwickshire CCC and ex-Devon player and vice-captain, who will be running Colts sessions at the Club this season, sees the nets as an important aid to the development of young cricketers.

The scheme will provide three new bays with shock proofed surfaces to ECB approved standards.

Batting and bowling screens will be incorporated as will high security fencing.

Details of Club Coaching sessions and other developments at the Club will follow shortly.