CALSTOCK Cricket Club's future has been assured, after it was awarded £50,000 of National Lottery funding from Sport England to buy its own ground.

The club can now purchase the freehold of its current ground at Butts Meadow, Albaston, which has been its home for the last 27 years.

The money has been secured through Sport England's Playing Fields fund and a thrilled club chairman Jon Lambert told the Times this week: 'We are delighted to have been awarded this investment which means we have now secured the future of the club after a period of uncertainty.

'It means that we can continue to grow and develop a real community club here in the Calstock parish.'

Mr Lambert expressed thanks to Sport England for recognising what had been achieved over the last few years at the club and the current owners for agreeing to sell the field.

'We can now concentrate on helping the club to grow without the worries of having nowhere to play.'

Calstock Cricket Club plays in Division Six East of the Cornwall Cricket League and is currently top of the league being unbeaten so far this season.

It runs two Under 11 league teams in the Tamar District of the Cornwall Youth League and a girls only Under 11 team.

The club has a contract with the Cornwall Cricket Board to deliver 100 hours of cricket to local schools — Calstock, Delaware and the federated schools of St Mellion/St Dominick and Gulworthy/Lamerton — through the charity 'Chance to Shine'.

Following a record number of bids, 76 projects across England have been successful in the fourth funding round and will share a total of £3.5-million.

Over the four rounds, 727 pitches and nearly 2,600 acres across England have been protected and improved.

Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson said: 'The Protecting Playing Fields fund is a key part of the legacy from London 2012 improving facilities up and down the country.

'Good pitches, that can be used all year round, are vital to sustain and encourage sports participation.

'This additional lottery investment will help increase opportunities for people to get involved in sport.'

Sport England chair Nick Bitel said: 'The popularity of this legacy fund shows just how important good local playing fields are to grassroots sport.

'I'm delighted that even more communities will now benefit thanks to this extra lottery funding.

'But Sport England's support for playing fields is about much more than money; every day our experts play a vital role in protecting sports provision through the planning system.'