New pitch transforms cricket opportunities in Felpham
A long-awaited project to replace the unusable non-turf cricket pitch at Felpham Community College has been completed, thanks to a joint effort between Aldwick Cricket Club and the school itself. The new pitch will benefit both FCC students and members of Aldwick CC, strengthening a partnership that has been building in recent years and aims to benefit the wider community.
The existing artificial cricket surface had fallen into serious disrepair and had been deemed unsafe to play on, forcing the school’s cricket teams to play all of their fixtures away from home. Lack of a usable pitch on site has been a major barrier to participation and development of a sport growing in popularity amongst students.
Aldwick Cricket Club, which relocated from Aldwick to Felpham in the early 2000s and is based just metres from the college, has worked closely with the school to make the replacement possible. Many of the boys and girls who attend FCC already represent Aldwick CC at youth and senior levels, making the project a natural collaboration that supports cricket from grassroots to adult league level.
Ollie Smith, Aldwick CC Chairperson, said: “Aldwick Cricket Club is committed to giving more children opportunities to play cricket. Supporting our most local state secondary school with improved facilities is incredibly important to us. This new pitch will help hundreds of young people access the game.”
Bryn Hauxwell, Head of PE at Felpham Community College, added: “This newly upgraded facility will benefit thousands of students and the local community. Felpham Community College are keen to support local community clubs and this is ideal for both the College and Aldwick Cricket Club in their quest to develop participation and playing opportunities in the local area. Not only will this facility allow existing teams to play cricket on a new track but this will also allow new players to try out the national, traditional and historic sport. On behalf of the College we would like to thank Sussex Cricket Foundation and Aldwick Cricket Club for their support in pulling this new facility together.”
Aldwick CC successfully accessed £10,000 of funding through the ECB County Grants Fund, so the facility will also help support the rapid growth of the club, whose membership and range of playing offers has expanded at remarkable speed.
Lara Johnson, Junior Cricket Coordinator and Women’s 2nd XI Captain; explained; “This project is game-changing for us; our home at Brooks Lane is already operating beyond it’s capacity and our teams have been playing ‘home matches’ as far away as Chichester. This will bring all our teams back onto our doorstep and enable us to provide even more cricket. We ventured into women’s and girls’ cricket in 2021 and already we run five girls’ teams and four women’s teams across a range of soft and hard ball formats. The momentum behind the female game continues to build and the new pitch ensures the club can keep expanding in this area. The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is happening here in England & Wales next summer, and if the recent boom in girls’ football and rugby are anything to go by, we must be ready to welcome even more girls through our doors.”
Carl Tupper; Clubs, Leagues & Facilities Manager at Sussex Cricket Foundation explained: "We know that with the fantastic increases in participation across Sussex, club facilities are under strain. We encourage all clubs to build relationships with their local secondary schools. The partnerships can benefit both the school provision of cricket and address the capacity issues that clubs are facing. This project is an excellent example of collaboration to solve these problems."
Young cricketers have already had their first look at the surface, with excitement growing ahead of the 2026 season. Year 8 student, Pearl, said: “It looks amazing, I can’t wait to finally play some matches here. It will make school cricket so much better.”
The pitch installation marks a significant step forward for cricket participation in Felpham and with the first matches scheduled for the spring, both FCC and ACC look forward to bringing cricket to even more people.