CRICKETERS hoping to emulate the England team's Ashes success will face a tougher challenge than they are used to at a cricket ground next season.
Batsmen playing at Sedgefield Cricket Club's ground, on the outskirts of Sedgefield village, are used to hitting frequent sixes because of the close proximity of the boundary to the square. But yesterday, the club entered an agreement with Durham County Council to lease a strip of land from its nearby Hardwick Estate to extend the field and centralise the square.
Club secretary Nigel Bill said: "A short boundary always puts a glint in a batsman's eyes at the prospect of picking up lots of runs. This extra strip of land from the county council will mean it won't be such easy pickings in future as we'll be able to move the boundary so that the square is more central."
The move also enables the county council to create a continuous footpath around East Park linking into Station Road and continue to protect the route of a Roman road discovered by archaeologists in the outfield.
Leader of Durham County Council, Ken Manton, said: "Our archaeologists will be here when the work to the square is carried out just in case anything else is unearthed."
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