THRELKELD Cricket Club is celebrating finally reaching a settlement with Cumbria County Council over the damage caused to its ground.

The undisclosed sum, settled out of court, will allow the club to repay the England and Wales Cricket Board Charitable Trust some of the money it received to fix the pitch - which means other clubs in crisis will have funding available to them. 

The team now want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Baines Wilson solicitors who worked tirelessly to secure the money and to the wider community who bought their Extreme Cricket calendars to help get the game back on in the village.

On the three year anniversary of the devastating flood today (Monday), the cricketers can now concentrate on their fixtures rather than worrying about what would happen if the pitch flooded again.

The Chairman of Threlkeld Cricket Club, Richard Allen, said: “Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone who bought an Extreme Cricket calendar. The support we received from the local community and from people around the world meant we had enough money to show the ECB that we were determined to keep playing cricket.

"Our own efforts meant we could access charitable funding. Secondly, huge thanks must go to John Wilson and his team at Baines Wilson for helping us to secure a settlement with Cumbria County Council and its insurers. John, like many of the people involved in the creation of the calendar, gave a lot of his own time for no reward. There is no doubt in my mind that the club would have folded in 2012 if it hadn’t been for everyone’s support.”

Threlkeld Cricket Club hit national and international headlines with its spectacular fundraising Extreme Cricket 2014 calendar produced with the help and support of brilliant local photographer Stuart Holmes.

Stuart captured the team members playing cricket in some of the most extreme situations in the Lake District that the sport had ever seen - including underwater and on a frozen tarn. 

The club raised £50,000 by selling the calendar which allowed them to partially fund the redevelopment of the ground, most of which was funded by a grant from the English and Wales Cricket Board charitable trust (ECB). 

The flooding incident was caused as part of a culvert adjacent to the Threlkeld ground, owned by Cumbria County Council, had been filled in with gravel and other debris. This had led to the culvert overflowing in the heavy rain of June 2012 and resulted in debris covering the pitch and causing immense and irreparable damage to the new cricketing square which had recently been installed.

The club involved John Wilson of Baines Wilson LLP at an early stage. John together with representatives of the club attempted to amicably resolve the dispute with Cumbria County Council.

This became protracted, but John together with Richard Allen and Michael Webster from the Club negotiated a way forward with the ECB which allowed funding of the new development to take place. 

Unfortunately matters were not resolved amicably with Cumbria County Council and its insurers and legal proceedings had to be issued.

Those proceedings have now been settled and a significant and satisfactory payment plus legal costs has been made by Cumbria County Council to Threlkeld Cricket Club, allowing the Club to now repay a significant amount to the ECB charitable trust.  

John Wilson from Baines Wilson LLP said: “The club found itself in a very difficult position. It was unfortunate we were not able to resolve matters amicably with Cumbria County Council, so we had to issue proceedings. Those proceedings have now been settled on terms which I think are fair and reasonable representing a very good result for the cricket club.

“We were very pleased to have still been able to help the club and did so originally on a pro bono basis. We’ve been able to recover most of our costs that we incurred after proceedings were issued, but the costs we incurred prior to issuing them were irrecoverable. They ran to around a five figure sum but represent a commitment we were happy to make.” 

John handed the matter over to Kath Sibley in Baines Wilson’s Dispute on Litigation team. Kath and in house barrister Nigel Gowling negotiated the final settlement.

Kath Sibley added: “This is quite an unusual case. Clearly the club had been devastated by the flooding incident. As Commercial Litigators and business lawyers we are not regularly involved in ‘human interest’ stories. However, this case is certainly one that captured the imagination of us all and we are really pleased to have reached such a good result from the club’s, and indeed the wider Threlkeld community’s, perspective.”

Michael Webster, Treasurer of Threlkeld Cricket Club, said: “I am just glad the whole thing is over and we are back playing cricket on our home ground. We’ve been able to take on a junior coach, Ben Jefferson, and our new team of boys and girls are already competing in the Eden Valley Cricket League. I can’t tell you how proud I am that we have gone from staring at a pile of rubble and a feeling of utter distress to picking ourselves up, battling on and re-instating our stunning ground back to the way it should be.”