Vandals cause £2,000 worth of damage to cricket pitch

A cricket club is facing a £2,000 bill after vandals covered its wicket area with weedkiller.

Bungay Cricket Club said the square at Maltings Meadow in Ditchingham, Norfolk, was damaged over the New Year.

The vandalism has meant that the club has had to use other teams' grounds ahead of the season starting in a few months.

Club chairman Jim Howlett said the club was "angry and frustrated" by the damage that was caused.

Olly Flood, a cricketer at the club, said: "It's obviously done by someone who put a lot of thought and energy into it because hardly a bit was missed, and there's not a touch on the football pitches around."

He said the impact caused by the vandalism was more stretched beyond not playing on the grass, citing the loss of bar income and the inability to pay bar staff due to the club being closed until the ground is usable.

However, he said local cricket clubs had "rallied around" to help ease the problem of where the Bungay side will play its matches.

"We will get through this, and we will play, but it's just so frustrating," he said.

"People who play cricket know you can't prepare a wicket in two or three months. It takes years. It won't be great to start with but it will come."

Howlett said in a statement on social media that the club was "angry and frustrated" but was determined to "bounce back".

He added that money spent on repairs would otherwise have been used to develop the club's youth and women's teams.

The club said it was going through CCTV footage to identify those responsible and urged anyone with information to contact the club directly or the police.

A spokesperson for Norfolk Police said it had a report of criminal damage at an address on Pirnhow Street, Ditchingham, on 13 February 2026.

The vandalism is believed to have happened between 24 December 2025 and 2 January 2026, the force said.

In a statement on social media, Bungay Town Council said it was supporting the club to "identify the source of the vandalism".

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