Garstang CC suffer another blow with a delayed start to the season

The coronavirus pandemic has caused havoc on sport globally with events either being postponed or cancelled altogether.

Much closer to home, it has seen the Northern Premier Cricket League rule out any matches before May 31 and the likelihood of no cricket at all being played until July.

It comes only a matter of weeks after the club’s Riverside base was flooded for the third time in seven years as a result of Storm Ciara.

Walling said: “It isn’t the greatest situation, especially as the weather seems to have got considerably better over the last week or so.

“You look out of the window and think the cricket season is near but, in reality, it’s pretty bleak and we aren’t sure if we’re going to get out on the field.

“We were near to getting back up and running after the floods because the ground took a bit of a battering – and so did the clubhouse.

“The groundstaff had been working overtime and then we’ve been hit with a sucker blow but everyone else is in the same position and we just have to try and do what we can.”

The main hit looks to have come off the field with the annual Beer and Gin Festival, organised by the club, another event to have been affected.

It had been due to take place at the Riverside over the early May Bank Holiday weekend of May 7-9 but now requires a new date.

“Some of the clubs are somewhat dependent on their bar takings,” Walling said.

“I think they will be affected by that more than us because we don’t take much behind the bar; you go down Garstang High Street and there are a lot of pubs we have to compete against.

“Our main thing is the Beer Festival, which we have had to postpone until August, so we’ll have to see what we can make out of the situation until then.”