Cricket club rebuild and look towards a positive future

Mynydd Isa & Maeshafn CC are aiming for a successful 2021 season in Division 4 of the North Wales League as they continue to rebuild the cricketing presence in the community following the club’s near collapse in 2019.

After winning their opener at Halkyn 2nds on May 1, the Flintshire outfit have endured back-to-back cancellations due to wet weather.

The club was formed in 2019 by the merger of Mynydd Isa CC, who have a long tradition in midweek and Saturday cricket but declining numbers over recent years, and Maeshafn CC, a nomadic Clwydian side formed in 2005 at the Miners Arms in the village.

After a season together in 2019, the majority of the Mynydd Isa players left the club and joined other North Wales sides. The club groundsman also retired and the square was left to grow wild over the winter.

Club secretary Jonathan Fagan explains what happened next: “In late 2019 we found ourselves with an inherited historic debt to the league of over £1500, no groundsman, a broken down roller and wicket mowers, a square in need of serious renovation, a dangerous astroturf wicket and no outfield mower to cut the ground with. To say we were in a difficult place is a serious understatement.”

With the help of the North Wales Cricket League, Cricket Wales, the Ten Percent Foundation and assistance from individual players, the club was able to sort its financial position out, get the equipment repaired and restore stability.

The players started to learn how to look after the square themselves and during lockdown were able to get it back into some usable shape again.

The club has entered one team into the North Wales League and are playing in division 4.

In 2021, the club has secured over £20,000 of investment into the Argoed Sports Association by Sport Wales and the Ten Percent Foundation. A new astroturf cricket wicket has been added at a cost of £5,000 and a new £21,000 outfield mower is in the process of being purchased.

Fagan added: “We are going from strength to strength this year. We now have a solid foundation to build on and get cricket back up to the levels it used to be played at up at the Argoed.

“Although the ECB’s disastrous decisions over the years to sell the rights to cricket to pay per view TV have relegated cricket to the status of a sport with low participation and ageing players, we aim to get children playing at Mynydd Isa again in the next few years as we look to develop the club’s presence and plan for the future.”

The club has a few spaces in its 2021 squad for anyone aged 16-65 looking to play cricket in Mynydd Isa.

Contact Jonathan Fagan on 07500 704441.