The new floor of the East Kent Sports School at Ramsgate was completed in September at a cost of £70,000. It measures 105ft by 55 and was laid to the highest standards by means of a £70,000 National Lottery grant and forms the major part of a £130,000 upgrading of the centre, which also involved the lighting system, the social facilities and a lecture and committee room.

The school has an 80 percent cricket use, but is also home to other indoor sports, including basketball and badminton, and the facilities are available to community groups, among them the disabled.

John Websper, chairman of the school – which began life under the auspices of the AKCC in the early 70s – said that it now satisfied the demanding standards of the ECB for an area centre of performance. It is the first such area in Kent, to form part of an eventual series of satellites with Canterbury as the centre of excellence.

There are four cricket lanes and the indoor pitch standard is equalled only by those at Trent Bridge and Old Trafford.

The school plays host to the Thanet Indoor Cricket League, the largest by far in South East England with 56 teams in seven divisions, and also to 17 teams playing in under-13 and under-15 leagues.