Hebden Bridge Cricket Club have said they will not be going backwards after vandals damaged their ground by thousands of pounds in West Yorkshire.

The attack was between Saturday evening and Sunday morning with an fire lit on the pitch of the cricket ground with stolen petrol. Garden machinery including several lawnmowers, strimmers and the generators were stolen or damaged.

The club then reported the crime to West Yorkshire Police. It received immense support from members of the local community and within days more than 500 had been raised on a fundraising site.

Fire and Theft Cause Major Damage

The 100-year-old club, based at Salem Fields were suddenly faced with an unexpected bill when a fire was deliberately set on the ground by vandals during an attack, which would cost thousands to repair at the start of the season.

The club, which only has about 20 regulars and has a set of reliable volunteers helping keep the ground maintained, currently plays friendly games against cricket clubs from Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Its main income comes from player match fees and from people giving it donations, it does not receive money from the England and Wales Cricket Board and, being a smaller club, funds that would have been used for developments are now to be spent on repairs.

Community Support Arrives Quickly

A club representative, Dylan Comyn expressed how the timing of the incident had not helped with the club only playing a few games this season.

However he admitted how grateful they were for the public response from locals.

He said:

"We're extremely fortunate about where our pitch is positioned as it's an idyllic spot within the valley. But with that comes not much CCTV, so security-wise it's not the most secure spot."

He then said that the club had suffered problems with anti-social behaviour in the past, in a similar way just seven years ago, where there was an attack that resulted in its equipment being stolen, as well as vandalism of its storage areas.