The mayor of Brighton and Hove praised a charity and its partners for funding indoor cricket nets at a sports centre in Whitehawk.

Councillor Mohammed Asaduzzaman had warm words for the Sussex Cricket Foundation which helped pay for four lanes of nets at the Stanley Deason Leisure Centre, in Wilson Avenue.

Funding also came from Freedom Leisure, which runs the site, Brighton and Hove City Council, which owns the site, and Rottingdean Cricket Club, which plans to train there.

The Sussex Cricket Foundation said: “The indoor nets are the first major facilities project as part of the foundation’s Urban Cricket Plan for the city and represent a major improvement to facilities in the local area.

“The facility now provides a training hub in a part of the city where facilities were previously lacking.”

The foundation’s community director Gary Wallis-Tayler said: “We are working hard to improve the quality and quantity of facilities, both indoor and out, across the city.

“This new facility provides the local community with a place to train or play during the winter months and also acts as a facility for the foundation to use for our community-based programmes such as Super 1s.”

The mayor, Councillor Asaduzzaman, said: “The Sussex Cricket Foundation does some amazing work in the city and, when I became mayor, it was an obvious choice for one of the charities I will be supporting during my mayoral year.

“It was a real pleasure to visit Stanley Deason Leisure Centre and see the new indoor nets and hear about the collaboration between the council, the charity, Freedom Leisure and Rottingdean Cricket Club which made them possible.

“Cricket – like all sport – has the potential to do so much good, not only helping people get active and improve their health and wellbeing but bringing the community together and promoting important shared values.

“I look forward to hearing how well-used the new nets become over the coming months.”

Rottingdean Cricket Club chair Tim Devitt said: “Rottingdean Cricket Club was thrilled to add financial support to the recent investment by Sussex Cricket Foundation in upgrading the indoor cricket facilities at Stanley Deason.

“This significant enhancement aligns perfectly with our mission to foster cricketing talent and support the growth of the sport within our community.”

To read more about the Sussex Cricket Foundation’s plans for the Brighton and Hove area, click here.