Cricket club suffers 'vandalism' for seventh time

A cricket club has been forced to withdraw from the league after its pitch suffered criminal damage for the seventh time.

Westcroft Cricket Club, which has its main home ground at Crownhill Sports Ground in Milton Keynes, has had to pull out of the Northamptonshire Cricket League.

The damage occurred on 11 June when “every prepared playing surface was affected,” said chief patron Azhar Zafar.

“This may appear to be a single act of vandalism,” he said, but it was also “the latest incident in a sustained pattern of criminal damage… over the past two years”.

Most incidents have happened at Crownhill which the club leases from Milton Keynes City Council.

The Willen Cricket Ground, which it rents on a per game per season basis, has also witnessed other acts of criminal damage, Zafar said.

At the start of the 2026 season, Westcroft Cricket Club invested approximately £10,000 in preparing and improving the square.

Following earlier incidents, the club also self-funded CCTV installation and additional security measures.

Zafar said that CCTV evidence suggested that bright floodlights may have been used to impair camera visibility before the latest damage was carried out.

He said the club now faced repair and reinstatement costs expected to exceed £15,000.

A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said officers carried out a thorough investigation but “due to a lack of available evidence, the investigation has been filed at this time, but it will be reviewed should any new information come to light”.

After the damage to the pitch on 11 June, emergency repairs were carried out to allow some cricket to resume.

However, Zafar said that “whilst the surface has been stabilised, substantial further investment will be required if Crownhill is to host Northamptonshire Cricket League fixtures”.

He described Westcroft as a grassroots community club which supported “senior cricket, junior cricket, youth coaching and is actively developing opportunities for women and girls to participate in the game”.

He said that the club “remains determined to rebuild”.

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