A CRICKET club swamped by the Boxing Day floods is celebrating six months on after getting back on its pitch and now picking up a £5,000 grant towards repairs.

Bradford & Bingley’s Wagon Lane ground was left several feet underwater after the River Aire burst its banks an and a 50-strong work party worked solidly to clear the debris.

But flood water and silt had badly both the pitches, some ground machinery, including mowers and cricket rollers stored away for the close season, were under water for a some time and unrepairable.

The £160,000 outdoor, all-weather surfaced nets paid for with the help of the England Cricket Board only six years ago were badly damaged, and the ageing indoor nets were ruined.

Damage totalled £50,000 but hard graft by members and help from the ECB, Sport England and Bradford Council the club, which has strong youth sides, is hosting matches once more

And now the Rotary Club of Bradford West has given a grant of £4,996.00 to purchase replacement equipment to the club which was formed in 1965.

“It’s a huge thankyou to the Rotary Club from all at Bradford & Bingley,” said club secretary Tim Rogers.

“It’s a fantastic donation and will help tremendously as we’ve made some progress, but still have a long way to go.”

Tony Caunt, chairman of the Bradford West community committee said the donation had come from cash collected by the Yorkshire District rotary clubs which was dedicated to helping sports clubs and organisations hit by the floods.

“There is a pot of thousands of pounds and we applied for this grant as the cricket club is such a big part of the community,” Mr Caunt said.

Cricket club chairman Adam Swallow also thanked Rotary and all those members who worked to allow play to happen this season.

“Everyone has really pulled together - two days after it happened we had 50 people down here and filled seven skips with rubbish and debris from the outfield.

“And so this money from Rotary is really the icing on the cake,” he said.

Bradford & Bingley CC are the current holders of the Priestley Cup, having won the trophy on their own ground last August and the Wagon Lane ground is regarded as one of the best in the Bradford League and is the only one in the league with its own floodlights.

The club have hosted Priestley Cup finals, T20 finals under lights and Yorkshire second team matches.

Past junior players who went on to play for Yorkshire include Neil Hartley, Adil Rashid and Gareth Batty - who represented England - were also youngsters at the club.