A local sports hub is celebrating a major funding boost to help upgrade its facilities and keep young players active in the community.
Donation from Barratt Homes
St Annes Cricket Club, in Lytham St Annes, has received a £1,000 donation from Barratt Homes to enhance its coaching provision and sustain growth across all age groups. The club offers cricket opportunities for everyone, from five to eight-year-olds in the ECB All Stars programme to youth sides at every level up to Under-17s. It also runs girls’ softball and women’s softball league teams. With training and matches filling the grounds most weekday evenings, the club remains a hub of sporting and community life.
New Equipment for Wet Conditions
The donation will be used towards acquiring a new retractable roll-out plastic pitch that the junior teams will be able to use in wet conditions.
Matthew Dougall, junior cricket co-ordinator at St Annes Cricket Club, said: “We’re extremely grateful for Barratt Homes’ kind sponsorship. In this day and age, volunteer-led organisations like ours find it increasingly hard to balance rising costs. This donation will help us strengthen our coaching setup, both in numbers and skill level - something that is vital to the club’s long-term development.
“Our club is at the heart of the local community and one of the largest sports clubs in the area. We’re proud to provide a welcoming space not just for cricket, but for other local groups to use our facilities. Clubs like ours simply couldn’t exist without the dedication of our volunteers and the generosity of sponsors like Barratt Homes.”
Historical Club with a Rich Legacy
Founded in the late 1880s, the historic club was crowned inaugural league winners in 1902 and served as the Royal Horse Artillery Training Centre during the First World War.
The club is proud to have produced and hosted world-class cricketers over the decades, including Andrew Flintoff, who rose through the junior and senior ranks before embarking on his professional career. Other notable professionals to have represented the club include Eldine Baptiste, Jimmy Adams and David Callaghan.
Recent Success
The first team enjoyed major success through the 2000s and, most recently, celebrated promotion by winning the 2025 Division 2 Premier League.
Rhys Nicholson, managing director at Barratt Homes Manchester, commented: “We’re delighted to support St Annes Cricket Club in its mission to make sport accessible to everyone.
“Community clubs like St Annes Cricket Club play a vital role in bringing people together, fostering local pride and inspiring the next generation. We wish the teams every success in the seasons ahead.”
To find out more about the club, visit the website at St Annes Cricket Club.
