Cricket club bowling 7,000 balls in survival bid

A cricket club that has become "increasingly more expensive to run" has organised a mammoth fundraiser to raise funds.

Members of Goatacre Cricket Club, near Calne in Wiltshire, are attempting to bowl the equivalent of the 93.1 mile distance to Lord's cricket ground in London - a total of 7,304 balls.

While the bowling challenge takes place on Saturday, three players will cycle to Goatacre from the Grace Gates at Lord's.

"It is a very expensive operation running a cricket club of our size," said chairman John Wilkins. "Our funds have been depleting over the last five or six years to the stage where we need to do something."

Goatacre Cricket Club, founded in 1928, has 150 members including players from men's teams, a women's side and junior teams.

It has a link to the home of cricket through the Village Competition, which it won in both 1988 and 1990 when the finals were held in London.

But the cost of balls, umpire fees and ground maintenance have increased over the years, which means the club now needs support to survive.

Wilkins added: "I read in the Cricketer Magazine that a club from Oakham in Rutland had bowled [from their club] to Trent Bridge in Nottingham, which is about 40 miles.

"And I decided we could bowl to Lord's as we have got a history with Lord's that goes back 40 years."

Steve Baker, Steve Williams and Tommy Allatt are the players cycling from Lord's to Goatacre.

Ahead of the challenge, Baker told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "We'll see who gets back first, the bowlers or the cyclers.

"We've been training... we just need to put in the hours now."

Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.