Birmingham's sports pitches slated again

Jan 4 2011 by Paul Dale, Birmingham Mail

“Sometimes the boundaries haven’t been marked and teams have to guess where it is.

“We are trying to play a decent standard of cricket and it’s getting embarrassing.” The latest report found a “two-tier” system was developing in cricket, with private clubs enjoying decent facilities while the BCL was forced to make do with mostly inadequate council pitches.

The document warned: “On the basis of the assessment and additional evidence collected, it is clear that current quantity of cricket pitches is at best adequate, but in reality is at capacity and showing clear signs of an inability to meet demand.”

Less than half of football pitches were also rated as good, and most did not have changing rooms.

Quality levels were said to be particularly poor in Ladywood and Yardley.

A third of all pitches were found to need urgent improvement to stop teams seeking alternative venues. The study also found many of the city’s rugby clubs were frustrated because they wanted to expand but did not have adequate ground facilities to move into higher leagues.

Steve Hollingworth, the council’s assistant director of sport and events, said he would look at bringing disused former pitches back into use.