NEWPORT Cricket Club have launched a fundraising drive to save their winter junior coaching programme because they fear a £40,000 hit from the coronavirus crisis.

The Spytty Park club have been hit hard by the pandemic that has prevented a ball being bowled in 2020.

Newport were supposed to host a pair of potentially lucrative Glamorgan games against Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire in the One-Day Cup but those fixtures have fallen victim to the delay to the professional season.

The club has been denied their usual revenue from hosting games for Glamorgan Seconds, Cardiff MCCU and Cardiff University while they have also lost out on money from senior membership of their four men’s and two women’s teams and from almost 200 junior members from eight boys and three girls teams.

“With no cricket to offer members income has virtually dried up but the bills keep rolling in with ongoing expenses on ground rent, insurance, not to mention the upkeep of the ground,” read a club statement.

“With an estimated £40,000 loss of income in 2020, the future of the club and its ability to provide community-based cricket activities in the future is very uncertain.

“One of Wales' largest cricket clubs is facing its biggest battle since losing its former Rodney Parade ground in 1990.

“Newport Cricket Club is totally reliant on its summer revenue as the ground is not used for any other sporting activity during the long winter months.

“Effectively, the success of the summer months gets the club through the winter, but the likelihood of no meaningful cricket this season means that there will be no tangible income for 18 months, prior to the start of the 2021 cricket season.”

South Wales Argus:

The financial plight means that Newport will concentrate their resources on their immediate future, meaning that this year’s winter coaching programme is under threat.

The 20-week junior project given the city’s young cricketers aged between six and 19 the chance to learn the game and develop their skills.

However, Newport estimate the cost of running the project – hiring facilities, equipment and coaching fees – is around £10,000 per year and state that money “is hard to find in the current environment”.

For information on how to donate to the junior coaching programme visit newportcricketclub.co.uk or click HERE.

The club website also has details on how to become a member - and therefore be able to book sessions in the nets at Spytty Park.