Vandal’s powder plot sidelines new pitch

A cricket pitch has been ruined after a two-word expletive was burned on to the grass using chemicals.

It means the new pitch at Collingham Cricket Club will be unplayable this season and possibly next.

It cost £20,000 to seed the area two years ago as part of a £160,000 project to transform a former carrot field and provide a new pavilion.

The club hopes to offer a reward to help find out who spelt out a swear word using a mystery white powder that turned the grass beneath brown.

It is thought the damage was caused on Friday night or early on Saturday. The damage was discovered later that morning.

The club’s director of cricket, Mr Roger Barker, an ex-police dog handler, said: “It’s just such a cynical, sick, cruel, vindictive act.

“It’s baffled us because no one can think of anyone who would want to do this to the club and no one, as far as we are aware, has a grudge against the club.

“It’s a mystery to us why anyone would want to do this, and damage something that is for the benefit of everyone in the village.

“Four or five years of hard work and sacrifice has potentially been destroyed by an act of mindless vandalism.

“We don’t know at this time whether the grass will recover because we don’t know what the substance is but we are expecting the worst, which is for it to be unusable for a couple of years.”

Anyone with information should contact Newark Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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