ECB Funding to Improve Grass Cricket Pitches Across England and Wales
Funding is available to support ECB affiliated cricket clubs to help address inequalities in access to safe, good quality grass cricket pitches across England and Wales.
The Grass Pitch Improvement Fund (GPIF) administered by the England and Wales Cricket Board is designed to support investment into three main areas:
- Improving the quality of squares and outfields (for grass pitches rated ‘unsuitable’ or ‘basic’ to improve to at least ‘good’).
- Creating sustainable management of sites (through irrigation and machinery improvements).
- Installing hybrid pitches to increase playing capacity.
Priority will be given to applications which support cricket for the following groups:
- Women’s and girls’ cricket.
- Cricket in diverse communities.
- Disability cricket.
- Low socio-economic groups.
Applications will be accepted from cricket clubs and other organisations affiliated to the ECB via their local CCB or CF, or that affiliate to the ECB nationally via the African Caribbean Cricket Association (ACCA) or National Asian Cricket Council (NACC).
To identify suitable projects, prior to submission of an application, all organisations will need to arrange for a County Pitch Adviser (CPA) to conduct a site visit to assess the current Performance Quality Standard (PQS) of the grass cricket pitch. The CPA will produce a report using the PitchPower Pro app, which will include a PQS rating for the square and outfield, and recommendations to improve the PQS rating(s) to at least ‘good’. Only organisations which receive ratings of ‘unsuitable’ or ‘basic’ will be able to apply for GPIF funding.
Grant amounts will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Support may be accessed at any time.
