Thieves raid Shropshire cricket clubs for mowers

Clubs in the county have been targeted by thieves who have taken mowers used for tending the outfield.

It is part of a trend that is growing nationwide, with an increase of reports of thefts from club fields and sheds.

Clubs say they mowers are specialist and useless for home gardens. It is believed they may be stolen to order, possibly even shipped abroad.

Recently Lilleshall Cricket Club was a victim, and had three mowers stolen.

But clubs as far apart as Upottery in Devon and Queensbury in West Yorkshire are among those reporting losses of mowers.

One of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s official insurers, Marshall Wooldridge, which covers about half of Britain’s 6,000 clubs, says that of all its claims, those relating to ground equipment were running at about 13 per cent over the past three years but since March this has shot up to 50 per cent.

Experts are struggling to explain the thefts, as specialist wicket mowers are unsuitable for back gardens or landscaping, and there is no evidence they are being offloaded at car boot sales or ebay.

In June, gang mowers were stolen from Lilleshall Cricket Club, who appealed for help in tracking down the mowers.

At the time, Ian Bate, chairman of the club on Church Road, said: “We are not the first cricket club in the area to be targeted and as far I know no one has been caught.”

In the early summer, the mowers are used to cut the outfield which grows profusely in the good weather.

The club has four senior sides and four junior sides and those running the club said they had done their best to keep the club running despite the theft.

But now, its secretary says there are rumours that the mowers are being taken elsewhere.

Peter Maltby, secretary of Lilleshall Cricket Club, said: “These were professional thieves. The rumour is that the mowers have gone to Ireland.”

Police are advising clubs to install CCTV, conduct regular reviews of locks and storage and have ground machinery security marked.

Among the clubs elsewhere in England whose summers have been blighted is Upottery CC in east Devon. After years of planning and fundraising, the club moved to a new ground just outside the village. Three weeks later it suffered its first ever break-in when a shipping container was smashed open and £10,000 worth of mowers were stolen.

In another raid last month, Egerton cricket club in Greater Manchester was targeted by masked thieves who broke in, fastened one end of a cable to a safe in the beer cellar and the other to their car and tried to haul it out. They failed but caused substantial damage.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is advising clubs that feel they might be at risk to seek advice from police, though it said it had no evidence that clubs were being singled out more than other organisations

A spokesman said: “We will always offer support and advice to clubs who are victims of vandalism or any other similar incident. This is done on a case-by-case basis working closing with the relevant local county cricket board.”