Outdoor cricket nets: How Yorkshire clubs achieved theirs

Club cricket nets facilities continue to be built and refurbished across the North of England to improve the quality of practice and enjoyment of the game.

In this collaboration with total-play Ltd, we’ll look at three sites – Hundhill Hall, Sheriff Hutton Bridge and Middlesbrough. They vary in size, scope, materials and complexity.

What they have in common is the professionalism that total-play brings to the project from start to finish as the longest supplier of ECB-approved non-turf pitch systems.

It will offer an introduction for any clubs considering future non-turf cricket nets themselves. Your current set-up might have reached the end of its life or there are now more teams that require outdoor cricket training. 

Hundhill Hall

(Single lane, tp5t design, 27m length)

Hundhill Hall Cricket Club is a popular hub in the village of East Hardwick, near Pontefract. With 130+ players, particularly a thriving junior set-up of Under 9s to Under 15s, All Stars and Dynamos, it was decided to build artificial cricket nets. 

The all-weather, dedicated practice area would improve training across senior sides, as well as the women’s 1st XI launched last season, juniors and the local community.

Funding

The cricket club raised a total of £30,990 on Crowdfunder from a mix of individual donations, £15,000 of Sport England match funding and financial assistance by Wakefield Council.

Already partnering with Larks Hill School, part of their success was positioning the outdoor nets facility as the key to unlock more physical activity in the Pontefract area.

Bespoke cricket nets

Total-play has six ECB-approved pitch systems that can be adapted for circumstances relating to space, geology and what each club requires. At Hundhill Hall, the single-lane project had a base construction down to 27m with a lane end gate at the end for security.

Inclusion of a retractable netting curtain on a tension wire gave the cricket club the ability to train in a fully enclosed environment with a bowling machine or throw downs.

A natural pitch-coloured carpet with green borders and green training lines was chosen, along with black PVC skirting, lane end gate, retractable netting curtain on tension wire and full wrap batting curtains.

Anthony Burton, total-play’s Business Development Manager for the North of England, did a preliminary site visit to inspect the previous existing facility.

Its timber framed tarmac base construction had subsided considerably. On-site site investigations, with a soil profile, revealed Hundhill Hall had very high sand content which affects stability.

Anthony said: “We put forward a much deeper aggregate profile, with concrete kerb edge to support. Our unbound dynamic aggregate system construction is infinitely maintainable, unlike the previous tarmac base.”

Completed at the end of October 2025, there is now a superb cricket facility at Sandygate Lane to aid cricket development.

Hundhill Hall’s Ali Crompton had this observation about total-play Ltd: “Thanks to you, and the installation team, for a phenomenal job. They worked so hard and have got things done earlier than expected to the same pro standards.”

Sheriff Hutton Bridge

(Two lane tp5t 33m net facility and refurbishment of existing two lane enclosed facility).

Sheriff Hutton Bridge Cricket Club (SHBCC) is an ECB Clubmark accredited club based around nine miles north of York. They’re an established presence in Yorkshire Premier League North while juniors and seniors have gone on to represent Yorkshire and England.

With two sites ‘The Bridge’ and ‘The Castle’ (after a 2020 merger with Sheriff Hutton Cricket Club), five senior sides playing weekends and juniors from ages 5 to 19, training requirements need careful management.

The new facility, to aid junior practice, included natural pitch colour carpets with green borders and green training lines to both lanes. Other features were a pedestrian access gate, wrap batting curtains and black PVC skirting.

Refurbishing the existing outdoor cricket nets, installed years ago by members, meant a major upgrade for years to come. Designed to look similar to the other new facility, it offers reliable bounce in a safe and enclosed environment from an ECB-approved supplier.

The two-lane structure has dark green panel netting rather than protection tunnels, new shock pads, base maintenance, natural pitch colour carpets with green borders and green training lines in both lanes, black PVC skirting and full wrap batting curtains.

Funding

This twin investment by Sheriff Hutton Bridge Cricket Club combined club reserves, crowdfunding efforts (including £7,500 Sport England match funding) and success with the ECB County Grants Fund.

Middlesbrough

(Four lane ECB approved tp5t enclosed facility at 38m)

For Middlesbrough Cricket Club, one of the most successful clubs in the NYSD (North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League), a significant chapter has unfolded.

Their state-of-the-art four lane nets facility at Acklam Park replaced the existing site that was beyond serviceable future use. The rotted timber edges had caused uneven surface levels, gaps in the carpet and weed growth, while it did not drain well either.

The club removed the old structure and fencing and the total-play installation team put in black HD protection tunnel netting, with a green playing surface that had blue borders and blue training lines in all four lanes.

Black PVC skirting, a pedestrian access gate and single batting curtains completed the transformation. The cricket club has junior and senior teams across age groups with its vision to provide the best training facilities in the area. An all-girls cricket team, Middlesbrough Maidens, had their inaugural season in 2025 and there is now an outdoor centre of excellence for coaching, drills and nets at Acklam Park.

The club’s Chair Mal Bruton said: “I would definitely recommend any cricket club who are looking for a company to install new nets use total-play. Top quality company and tradesmen.”

Funding

Middlesbrough’s funding efforts saw them successful with a Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) award of £83,000 (🚨 to confirm) that emphasised healthy lifestyles, reaching diverse communities and the impact all-weather nets would have as the club of 130+ members grew.

Wrapping up

These three total-play projects demonstrate the breadth of what’s possible and are a credit to the volunteers and club members for driving them to completion. As we look forward to the rest of 2026, there are dozens of outdoor cricket installations by total-play scheduled across Yorkshire.

Could your cricket club be next?

Contact total-play

If your cricket club would like to discuss non-turf cricket facilities, contact Anthony Burton via [email protected] or you can visit total-play.co.uk.

Other services include the artificial match pitches, support with grass pitches and cricket MUGAs.

This is Partner Content for total-play – if the mood takes you, click to read Cricket Yorkshire’s policy on Partner Content.