Bovingdon Cricket Club secretary Mark Carine is urging the public to head down in their droves when the club’s doors are swung open to one and all.

Last year’s victorious Ashes summer prompted 310 clubs nationwide to take part in the ECB Club Open Days scheme, with double the number already signed up this season.

One of those clubs is Bovingdon and they are encouraging the community to come out in full force on Sunday, July 13 to watch the final day of the first Test between England and India at their ground.

Bovingdon have put their own spin on the event, combining their ECB Club Open Day with their annual six-a-side competition as well as putting on a BBQ for those attending.

And Carine hopes the day will help attract some new members to the club as they look to expand their numbers.

“We thought that this was a great way to get some extra publicity for the club and hopefully attract some more people,” Carine said.

“This gives us a fantastic opportunity to showcase our club to the local community, show what we do.

“It’s a difficult time for cricket clubs at the moment generally so it would be great if we are able to attract a few new members out of the day.

“We are situated slightly outside of the village so we get the odd person drop in on weekends to watch games but we’re not inundated.

“Perhaps this will raise the awareness of the club and we might get a few more people round the club to watch games and become involved in the social side of the club.”

The ECB Club Open Days, in partnership with Waitrose, is a nationwide initiative that aims to help boost grassroots cricket participation by encouraging cricket clubs to open their pavilion doors and welcome guests from their local community for a day.

Find out when your local Club Open Day is and pop along by visiting www.ecb.co.uk/clubopendays.