NEW five-wicket cricket nets were officially opened at Marty Busch Reserve last Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
The nets are the training base of the Napoleons Sebastopol Cricket Club and two of the bays can be accessed by the public for recreational use.<\/p>\n
The project has been delivered as part of the ongoing $9.4 million Marty Busch Reserve Master Plan works which are being funded by the State Government and City of Ballarat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a much bigger space, and much nicer than the old nets at the reserve we\u2019ve come across from,\u201d said Naps-Sebas CC vice-president Sam Peters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve gone from four nets to five nets. Having three nets that are purely ours \u2013 not open to the public \u2013 makes them easier to maintain.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur kids in the 11s, 13s and 15s are in a learning atmosphere, and many are new to the sport. To have an area where kids can bat and bowl, go through the basics, and fit in some fielding is great for our group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have 40 or 50 blokes in our senior group. Everyone can fit in here without splitting up; we\u2019re keeping the club as a whole and ensuring the culture isn\u2019t split. We can stick as one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison said she expects the club will be able take their skills to the next level.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a large protected space with a synthetic surface and retractable nets, making it ideal for training,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means more time in the nets to fine tune batting and bowling skills. Having two of the five wickets open for community use is so important as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The State Government has committed $8.4 million towards the overall reserve overhaul.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the clubs here at Marty Busch are so proud and deserve these great facilities, so thank you to council for more-than a million dollars in the contribution to make sure we\u2026get everything done,\u201d Ms Addison said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe park is a sports and recreation destination.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naps-Sebas cricketers also utilise Marty Busch\u2019s redeveloped Dick Fleming Oval (number two oval) and turf wicket, and the new scoreboard, which were delivered as part of the master plan works.<\/p>\n
Also part of the overall precinct update were the delivery of a new netball court and lighting throughout the reserve.<\/p>\n
New AFL Victoria-compliant changerooms and a pavilion beside the number two oval are on the way, and works are expected to begin next year. The current building will be knocked down.<\/p>\n
An upgrade and relocation of the CFA fire and marshall track, and a new criterium cycling track are being designed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time we come back here, we are seeing significant progress being made which is fantastic to see,\u201d said City of Ballarat Sebastopol Ward councillor Des Hudson.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day it is about providing modern facilities for grassroots sport and that is what is important.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW five-wicket cricket nets were officially opened at Marty Busch Reserve last Thursday evening. The nets are the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-328103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}