Mike Gatting was among the key organisers of the Scarborough CC clean-up

Former England captain Mike Gatting was among around 350 people who turned out for Scarborough Cricket Club's big clean-up day at North Marine Road.

Gatting told BBC Radio York: "Most first-class counties would be envious of a club like this.

"With any community a cricket ground is a safe haven for children."

The event was organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Scarborough club under the NatWest Cricket Force Weekend banner.

Gatting, managing director of cricket partnerships at the ECB, helped former Scarborough and Yorkshire skipper David Byas paint the West Stand railings. Others worked elsewhere, while their children played on the outfield.

It's an ongoing project, a bit like the Forth Road Bridge, it never ends Scarborough chairman Bill Mustoe

"It's just been terrific to see so many children on the ground enjoying the coaching facilities that have been provided today," Scarborough chairman Bill Mustoe said.

"We are only one of three NatWest Cricket Force showcase clubs in the country this year, it's a terrific (scheme) that helps clubs throughout the nation."

While Gatting helped organise the event from the ECB end, former Yorkshire chairman Geoff Cope, in his role as a Scarborough Cricket Club trustee, put in the work at the local end.

"Volunteer is the big word involved in it all, but it's also working with local and national businesses," said Cope.

"A lot of preparation went in to see what we needed doing, and by the time we'd finished we could have spent well into excess of six figures.

"Locally we struck up a partnership with Yorkshire Coast college ... and the students have used this as a practical workplace.

"A lot has been done, but we've only touched the surface. It's a big, big stadium and we've got a workforce of two, so more and more volunteers are needed."

Mustoe intends the clean-up day to lead to a series of cluster groups with a variety of tasks dotted around the ground.

"It's an ongoing project. A bit like the Forth Road Bridge, it never ends."

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