ECB invests £96m in community cricket

The English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) £96m in community cricket over the next four years.

The agreement with the ECB's Recreational Assembly was signed on 8 May during a day of meetings at the Kia Oval, which culminated in the ECB's Annual Meeting.

ECB chair Giles Clarke said: "During the winter the game has diligently worked up detailed four-year plans which resulted today in the completion of MOUs with the First Class and Recreational Game and the commitment to invest £96m into community cricket during that period."

He explained 2012 had been a challenging season, particularly due to the poor weather that severely damaged facilities and club cricket.

However, Clarke said: "I have been amazed and delighted at the number of clubs that could continue playing through such terrible conditions and, in the first class game, the amount of cricket that was staged is a testimony to the decision to invest in such effective drainage systems."