Broken vintage roller leaves cricket club stumped

Play could stop at a village cricket club if it does not raise significant funds to replace its pitch roller, which has broken down after 80 years of action.

Battisford and District Cricket Club, founded in 1973 in Battisford but now based near Combs in Suffolk, said it needed to raise at least £10,000 to buy a replacement reconditioned roller.

Its old one, which weighed about two tonnes, conked out while club owner David Stevens-Row was in the middle of going over the cricket square.

The club is currently having to hire a roller to ensure games can still go ahead, but co-owner Julia Stevens-Row said its whole future depended on if it could buy a permanent one.

"If we don't have a roller, you can't play a game of cricket, because it has to be rolled prior to every game," she told the BBC.

"David rolls the wicket quite regularly between games and to ensure that the wicket is flat and able to be a good playing surface, which is what we want."

The club, south of Stowmarket, is currently having to fork out £400 a week to hire a second-hand roller, which, over the course of its 20-week season, will be an £8,000 outlay.

Julia and David said a brand-new top-of-the-range roller cost about £40,000, although some decent ones can be picked up for about £25,000.

They, however, are hopeful of raising enough money by the end of the season to purchase a second-hand one that has been restored to good condition.

David said their current one, sadly, could not be salvaged.

"It worked very well up until the gearbox decided to give up and somebody had to help me tow it off the square," he said.

"There is a driveshaft that goes through the middle of it, but unfortunately we can't get into the gearbox to repair it.

"So, unfortunately, it's gone to [be with] the rollers in the sky."

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