Slaithwaite Cricket Club first team captain Ian Holt is hoping the team’s recent success on the pitch can transfer to off it as they swing their doors open on Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August.

Last year’s victorious Ashes summer attracted 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 Slaithwaite, and they are encouraging the community to come out in full force.

And Holt hopes the day will allow the club to showcase themselves following last season’s promotion.

“This will allow us to promote the game within the community. Hopefully we will be able to attract some new members to the club and it allows us to give something back to existing members,” said Holt.

“We get quite a lot of people coming to the club as it isn’t just a cricket club, it’s a social club as well, but this may be able to increase numbers even further.

“Our main aim as a club now is to stay in the Premiership as it’s a good breeding ground for young players coming through. We want to stabilise ourselves in the league for the next five or 10 years and let the good kids coming through play at a decent standard.

“We would like to see some people from the day join the club, whether it be in a cricketing or social capacity, to get some more numbers on board.

“We’d like to increase the junior section because they’re the future of the club and you need them to progress.”

Former England captain and the ECB’s managing director of cricket partnerships Mike Gatting is fully behind the scheme, adamant the ECB Club Open Day allows Slaithwaite to showcase what they do in their community and encourage others to help out.

“The ECB Club Open Days opens the doors to the public and can attract some new volunteers, players or even just social members,” said Gatting.

“It also puts the club itself on show to the community so people know that it’s there, and hopefully they can attract new sponsors.

“People can go down to the clubs, see how much fun it is and what they do for the community – getting children involved or simply helping adults expend some energy – and they can see that it’s a great place to be part of.”

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