A CRICKET club has been targeted by ‘mindless’ joyriders who have ruined the grass of the pitch kept in pristine condition for the cricket season.

Stratfield Turgis Cricket Club was targeted by vandals at some point between October 9 and October 14 and club members have since been piece together what happened to their playing pitches and coming to terms with the vandalism.

The club has now had to call on members and friends of the club to help repair the damage done, so it can continue to be used to benefit the community.

Club member Daniel Spence said: “I have been here for 22 years and this is the first time something like this has happened.

“So far we haven’t had any ideas or updates as to who did this to our cricket pitch and it will be a miracle if we ever did find out.

“We don’t have any CCTV and other clubs in the area have been targeted in this way.”

Mr Spence called for other cricket clubs to be vigilant and make sure they secure their playing pitches if they are able to, as to prevent people from gaining access and potentially causing similar damage.

Mr Spence added: “It’s just a shame that this has happened because we are such a family club and friendly, we are a small club with limited funds.

“We had plans for funds which included buying new nets which would greatly improve training, but now we have had to use those funds to buy grass fertiliser to regrow the grass.”

The club initially looked into contractors to help fix the grass but due to the expense, volunteers have offered to do the work and give up their time.

The club is hoping that someone witnessed the damage being done or saw any suspicious activity in the area at the time. It is asking anyone who knows anything about the vandalism to email stratfieldturgiscc@gmail.com