ENGLAND cricket legend Nasser Hussain and ECB chairman of selectors Geoff Miller officially opened Cokenach Cricket Club’s new pavilion last Sunday as the club celebrated the start of a new era.

The opening was the culmination of a tremendous work effort by the club to get the pavilion ready in time, and the future certainly looks bright for Cokenach who currently play in the CCA Junior League 1B.

At 9am, the finishing touches were applied to marquees and the new pavilion in anticipation of the launch. Several club members had worked overnight, sleeping at the ground in an effort to get everything ready.

Miller arrived shortly before 10.30am and gave interviews to the local press and national TV cameras before Hussain’s arrival shortly afterwards. The former England batsman gave a batting and captaincy master-class before sharing his remarkable insight to the 100-string crowd. The pavilion was officially opened at 12.40pm.

There was special recognition for Nick Eve, Barry Peak and Robert Chambers, who were instrumental in bringing the pavilion into being by finding funding from the ECB, along with the generosity of members who designed and managed the build from start to finish.

The Champagne, generously provided by Cambridge Wine, flowed and the new era in the club’s rich history was born.

Lunch in the Marquee followed and the 250 ticket-holders enjoyed wonderful food and wine and were treated to an after-dinner speech by Miller, who waxed lyrical in his Derbyshire accent and had the assembled crowd in stitches, laughing along to his well-polished repartee.

The day was rounded off with a Twenty20 match between Cokenach and guest side Buntingford, with the hosts taking the win.

Cokenach Cricket Club president, Nick Eve, summed up the mood by commenting afterwards: “Cokenach continues to raise the standard of grass-roots cricket being played locally, giving all its members, whether children aged 10 or adults of 70, an amazing opportunity to play cricket in wonderful surroundings.”