THE warm April sunshine, a free tee-shirt and the promise of plentiful supplies of tea, coffee and bacon butties, brought 60 volunteers to Melton Park for Great Melton's NatWest sponsored Cricketforce day last Saturday.

The volunteers were drawn from a wide cross-section of the community and were representative of the club's appeal across all age-groups. Club officers, junior and senior players, parents and younger children all worked tirelessly with paint-brush, spade or screwdriver to complete the many pre-season jobs on work coordinator, Mally Howard's list.

The fence around the ground, the pavilion veranda and railings, a store cupboard, the changing room floor and the sightscreens all received a lick of paint; the artificial practice areas were weeded and tidied; the nets constructed; the scorebox was prepared for the season and coaching equipment organised while regular groundsmen Mike Phoenix and Grenville Ireland prepared the pitches and the club's new covers for action.

'I'm very pleased with the turnout,' said Howard, 'and we've managed to accomplish all we set out to do. It's been excellent!'

Chairman Steve Phoenix added: 'The warm weather has undoubtedly been a bonus, but it's been fantastic to see such a good cross-section of ages. Some of our younger juniors and their parents have spent nearly all day painting the fence and there has been a really good camaraderie. Having been pleased with the success of our Cricketforce Day last year, this year's has gone even better. Volunteers are the life-blood of a club like ours.'

As an added bonus, senior player Michael Sibert was there to record the event in his role as a producer at Anglia TV.

A clip from the video appeared on 'Anglia News' on Saturday night but the full recording can be viewed on the club's website www.greatmeltoncc.co.uk/news.