Credit: Jacob Mignano
After years of neglect the Victoria Park cricket nets and pitches which have been labelled a “death trap” are due to get some much-needed repair.
The decision comes as a relief to many of Hackney’s cricket clubs and residents who use the facilities throughout the year. William Tucker, whose son plays for Stoke Newington Cricket Club, told the Hackney Post that balls can easily fly through holes in the net, putting batsmen in adjacent nets in danger.
The work comes too late for Fazal Rehman, who suffered a broken jaw when a ball reared up at him during a match last year.
“My pull shot is excellent and I could never predict what happened,” says Mr Rehman. “The ball just flew off a full-length and hit me in the jaw. I missed six weeks of the season.”
The Pakistani batsman had to undergo five hours of surgery at Kings College Hospital in London. “My jaw was cracked in two places and they had to insert some metal plates which are still there,” he said.
Mr Rehman blames the state of the pitches for his injury. “I was naïve not to be wearing a helmet but there is no way you expect the ball to bounce that high off the length it did,” he said. “Those pitches are dangerous.”
Rory McQueen, a student who has used the nets for several years, called them a “death trap” on Twitter, adding that it was only a matter of time before somebody was seriously injured by a speeding cricket ball.
The problem was highlighted as far back as 2007, when a poster on a local forum wrote: “The newly refurbished cricket nets at the northeast corner of Victoria Park are falling into a dangerous state of disrepair. Most of the cable ties holding the netting in place have snapped and need to be replaced.”
Duncan Holder, a coach at Stoke Newington Cricket Club, said: “The Victoria Park Cricket facilities are a local treasure and just because of the amount of people that use them there is always going to be lots of wear and tear. It’s a shame that they have fallen into the level of disrepair that we now see.”
Mr Tucker said that he had twice complained to Hackney Council over the state of the pitches and nothing had been done.
The problem it seems lies in the fact that the responsibility lies with Tower Hamlets Council, which has confirmed that it has just appointed a specialist company to replace the three cricket wickets at Victoria Park, as well as the three mats at the practice nets and to replace all the netting. With weather permitting, the work will start on Monday .
A council spokesman added that, “We have been in constant discussions about the progress of this project with the president of the Victoria Park Cricket League and hope the users will enjoy the new and improved facilities.
Saj Rehman, the league secretary, welcomed the decision to allocate resources to mend the damage. “If you look at some of the areas where there is extensive damage, you can see that there is a real potential for injury,” he said.
“It’s been like that for a few years so it’s great that it will be fixed.”
