Chesterfield looking forward to a successful Festival

After a two successful ICC Women’s World Cup warm–up matches, the town is preparing to welcome the Custom Solar Chesterfield Festival of Cricket, in association with Chesterfield Borough Council.

The picturesque ground held two international fixtures, England versus Sri Lanka and India versus Sri Lanka, in the lead up to the global cricket tournament.

The games took place ahead of the week-long festival, which will feature a four-day Specsavers County Championship match versus Durham and a NatWest T20 Blast fixture against Yorkshire Vikings.

Chesterfield Borough Council has confirmed that it has completed a comprehensive programme of work over the winter to improve drainage at Queen’s Park.

Chesterfield Borough Council, which owns the picturesque ground, carried out a full review of drainage using CCTV cameras and found some roots from nearby mature trees had caused a blockage and partial collapse of the drainage system.

A comprehensive programme of work has been carried out to minimise future drainage problems. This includes;

• Installing new drainage at the boundary near South Lodge, down the field in the direction of the bandstand and near the cricket pavilion
• Replacing old pipework in gullies with new plastic pipes
• Using water jets to ensure all pipework is clear of blockages
• Re-turfing areas of the ground impacted by the work
• Putting in place a revised maintenance regime and phased replacement of drainage to prevent problems returning in the future

Councillor Steve Brunt, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for town centres and visitor economy, said:-

“By using CCTV cameras we were able to identify there had been a partial collapse of the drainage so we decided to carry out a comprehensive improvement programme.

“While no cricket ground in the country can ever claim it won’t suffer from any drainage issues after high volumes of rain, we believe that the work carried out will prevent a repeat of the issues that were experienced last year where the drainage problems continued for some time after the rain had stopped.

“We look forward to welcoming both Durham and Yorkshire to the ground as they take on Derbyshire during the course of the popular cricket festival. We are proud to support the festival which promises to be a great week’s cricket and will bring lots of visitors to the town benefitting local businesses.”

Simon Storey, Chief Executive at Derbyshire County Cricket Club, added:-

“We have worked closely with Chesterfield Borough Council following last year’s event and a full programme of drainage improvements have taken place which will significantly reduce the risk of any future drainage issues.

“Chesterfield is a special venue for cricket and we’re delighted with the response we have received for this year’s festival.  The popular NatWest T20 Blast fixture versus Yorkshire Vikings is set to be another sell out, while the traditional first-class fixture, this year versus Durham, is always well attended.

“Queen’s Park is one of the most picturesque venues in the game and we’re committed to returning for years to come.”

The festival, which runs from Monday 3 July to Saturday 8 July, features a four-day Specsavers County Championship match between Derbyshire and Durham.

It concludes with the traditional local NatWest T20 Blast derby versus Yorkshire Vikings on Saturday 8 July, which is on course to be a sell-out with only 500 tickets still available.

Tickets for the matches are available from Chesterfield’s Visitor Information Centre in Rykneld Square or online at derbyshireccc.com.