ENGLAND Test Captain Alastair Cook and former skipper Mike Gatting showed their support for local cricket last week by visiting Dymock CC who need to raise an extra £17,000 to fund their pavilion project.

The club who are currently building a new multi-sport pavilion face a shortfall of £40,000 on the original building cost which needs to be raised by the start of the 2016 Cricket Season.

Martin Fowke, club chairman, said: “It’s all coming together very nicely but we need extra funds to bridge the pavilion over the Roman road.

“It’s very overwhelming. It’s good to see so many people helping out.”

The club has launched ‘The Roman Road Roof Tile Raffle’ based on the principal of sponsoring the 17,000 tiles on the roof of the new pavilion for £1 per tile.

Cook, who launched 2016 Natwest Cricketforce at Dymock last Friday, said: “What surprised me was looking on the sat nav where I was going it looked a tiny village and to turn up and see so many people helping is brilliant.

“The call to arms to come out and help out the local cricket club is a great sign.

“It’s a great advert for the cricket club and shows what a great community they’ve got here.”

Full story on pages 10 and 35.