Sowerby Bridge Cricket Club hopeful they have escaped serious flood damage despite pitch being submerged

The club’s pitch was submerged by flood water, which also got into the clubhouse.

But club president Tim Helliwell says the redesigned clubhouse has avoided any serious issues, and is hoping the pitch won’t have been badly damaged either.

“It was probably around eight feet deep all the way round the field and at the front of the clubhouse,” he said.

“The first floor where the bar is is untouched though, it only rose halfway up the stairs.

“We’re cleaning it up now and disinfecting it and we’re making good progress.

“There’s a lot of stuff that will have to be thrown away.

“I can see four-fifths of the cricket pitch at the moment, so we’ll have to see what damage is left when it’s clear, but the bits we can see are green.

“It’s similar to 2015, when we lost everything. The flooding will be as bad but the damage won’t be because we rebuilt the clubhouse in a different way so we could rescue it from this kind of deluge.

“The worry is, is it going to carry on happening as time goes on.”