Project: Turf wicket installation

The Need: The Greenvale Cricket Club (GCC) has participated in the local cricket association competition for a number of years. The local association caters for various senior grades with all matches being played on synthetic grass. The Greenvale Cricket Club had reached and won top-level competition of the local association and was realistically in a position to finish in the top few teams of the competition on a regular basis. Other stronger clubs in the area had moved their senior teams to the Victorian Turf Cricket Association (VTCA) to access a higher standard of turf competition, including the VTCA’s Metropolitan Grade.  Additionally, GCC faced the prospect of losing a number of its younger talented players who wanted to play on turf to further their careers. The installation of a turf wicket was therefore seen as a necessity for GCC in terms of future development and growth.

The Goal: The club was admitted to the VTCA in 2004 and was able to play turf cricket during the 2004/05 season on a ground occupied by another club. GCC’s goal was therefore to install a turf wicket area, comprising at least eight wickets, on the club’s main oval in Greenvale. The turf wicket had to be laid prior to the 2005 football season (in or around February 2005), to ensure it would be available for use prior to the commencement of the 2005/06 cricket season

The Approach: After approaching the local council, GCC obtained approval for the installation of a turf wicket but were informed that the entire cost of the project would have to be borne by the Club.  With the cost nearing $40,000, GCC knew that in order to finance the project funds would have to be raised from such sources as donations and loans, predominantly from members. GCC was also made aware of the potential benefits of registering a project with the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF).  GCC then set about registering their Turf Wicket project with the ASF, began canvassing support for the project with members, and approached their bank.

The Challenge: GCC had previously arranged a loan facility for the completion of other capital works, and retained the ability to re-draw an amount of approximately $11,000. GCC however still faced the challenge of directly raising a further $28,000 within a very short time frame.

The successful strategies: “The strategy of having the project registered with the ASF proved successful” said GCC President Bruce Kent. The ASF has received approximately $20,000 in unconditional donations from members and supporters of GCC since project registration and has subsequently issued discretionary grants to GCC to assist in funding the project.  Further amounts were then borrowed by the club from GCC members, that ensured the target of approximately $40,000 was reached, and the laying of the turf wicket (as planned) in February 2005. According to Mr Kent “the installation of the pitch has been a complete success.  Not only is it ‘playing well’, but the enthusiasm and the interest that it has generated has invigorated the club and will continue to do so”.

Location: Greenvale is a north western outlying suburb of Melbourne located near Tullamarine airport.