Wash-out: Wigan cricket club forced to axe vital fund-raiser
Foul weather has forced organisers to axe a Wigan cricket club charity event aimed at securing its future.
Deluges on Wednesday and continuing through into Thursday (May 22 and 23) prompted bosses of Standish Cricket Club to pull the plug on this Saturday’s bank holiday weekend Gin on the Wicket.
However they say that they will try to re-arrange the beer and gin-themed event for later in the year.
Standish CC said the proposed cost of refurbishing its dilapidated clubhouse following a major flood was so significant that it put the future of the club in doubt.
They have being running in temporary facilities since Covid.
The club is currently awaiting the outcome of a planning application which if granted would see a new clubhouse and five homes being built.
For that to happen and to secure its viability, committee members are trying to raise as much money as possible.
So SCC teamed up with Gin on the Lane on Wigan Lane to host Gin on the Wicket.
But in a statement issued on social media, the club wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that we must postpone our fundraiser.
"Due to the heavy rain the pitch is waterlogged. Unfortunately, even if the match went ahead, which we are sure it won't, the surrounding area where we had hoped to host you is not fit.
“Thank you to everyone involved so far. We will release a new date very soon once all of the organisers have agreed one.”
The club has said that if the event, when eventually held, is a success, further fund-raisers will be held in the coming months and years.