The SWALEC Community Development Fund, in association with Cricket Wales and Glamorgan County Cricket Club, will reward the grass roots cricket clubs of Wales by providing £10,000 each season to clubs for required equipment and kit, or to upgrade facilities.

The first Club set to benefit from this fund is Aberdare Cricket Club, after demonstrating significant growth over the past six years and a commitment to improving the Club for the benefit of its teams and the wider community.

As is evident at Aberdare, the SWALEC Community Development Fund aims to develop active participation in the recreational game in Wales and improve the cricket experience at grass roots level.

All cricket clubs affiliated to Cricket Wales and the ECB are invited to apply for funding. For more information and to apply visit www.glamorgancricket.com/swaleccdf.
Deadline for submissions for grants for the 2011 season is 6 July 2011.

The successful clubs will be selected by a judging panel of Alan Williams, SWALEC Director of Energy Supply, Peter Hybart, Cricket Wales Director of Cricket, Colin Metson, Glamorgan Cricket Managing Director of Cricket, and Robert Croft, Glamorgan Cricket player.

Under the ECB Premier League umbrella and one of 25 similar League formats running throughout England and Wales, the SWALEC Premier Cricket League was developed to provide a high level of competition at club level and to help bridge the gap between club and county cricket.
 
Each team participating in the League is again assigned two Glamorgan Cricket players during the playing season to boost the standard of play.

Glamorgan Player, Mark Wallace, comments, "The introduction of the SWALEC Premier Cricket League last season has proved to be a great success. Personally it is a great pleasure to play for Port Talbot Town as well as the county side. There is a great camaraderie between the players and I hope that I can pass on some of the skills I have gained through training and playing with Glamorgan's county cricket side.

"It is also a vital boost for the community sport in Wales; for both the club teams and fans. It is so important to maintain competitive standards and the League has gone a long way to delivering testing and high quality cricket throughout the season."
SWALEC Premier Cricket League Chairman, Paul Morgan, said, “We are indebted to SWALEC and Glamorgan County Cricket Club for their support and will be continuing our aim of providing the highest possible standard of cricket outside the professional game. The participation of the Glamorgan players can only be of benefit to our clubs, players and officials. Our clubs are committed to the development of junior cricket and improving the standard of facilities for players and spectators.”