FIRE-RAVAGED cricket club Lascelles Hall is facing a race to get their new clubhouse ready for the upcoming season.

Members of the Drakes League club were devastated after their Highfield Lane pavilion was burned down last November in a suspected arson attack.

The blaze not only destroyed the clubhouse and dressing rooms but also wrecked 185 years of the club’s illustrious history, including treasured mementoes and irreplaceable archives.

Now with just three weeks to go until the new season starts, the club is frantically trying to fit out a temporary building that was installed last week.

The building, provided at short notice by Huddersfield company MPH Building Systems, was just a bare shell and needs to be kitted-out with showers, toilets, changing rooms and a kitchen.

Club secretary Richard Shaw said it was all hands on deck to get the facility ready in time for the second team’s opening game against neighbours Kirkheaton on Saturday, April 16.

He said: “We’re going up there most evenings, we’re going to be working flat out.

“We’re all doing it, all the players and the members.

“We have all the skills we need, it’s whether or not we have the time.

“We’re working a lot more hours than we planned.

“People will be able to get changed, but I don’t know if they’ll be able to have a shower or somewhere to eat.

“We’ve got no electricity at the moment as unfortunately all the cabling was pinched.”

Jeremy Hunt, from MPH Building, said it had been a challenge to install the £10,000 portable building.

He said: “As soon as they got planning permission we set the wheels in motion.

“It’s one we’ve got in stock so we were able to deliver it immediately.

“It was quite a challenging delivery as access is difficult.

“We had to use land at Park View Livery and set up a crane to unload our transporters and then transfer the three sections across some farmer’s fields.

“We went above and beyond what we would normally do.”

Mr Shaw said after the tragedy of the fire they had seen some better luck with their bid to recover.

He added: “A few things have fallen in our laps.

“The building was got with a grant from the English Cricket Board, who really helped us out. Without them we’d have been really stuck.

“Companies all over Huddersfield have really helped out and a few companies have donated things such as Victorian Bathrooms at Ossett.

“Some have been for this project and others for the new build.

“The club has pulled together and it’s been very good to see a lot of people come out of the woodwork to give us a hand.”

Mr Shaw said the temporary building would be replaced by the new build in a few years, but they were in no rush.

He added: “We’re saving up for a legacy club house – we want to give it a good shot.

“We need to get as much grant money as possible. Getting it right is important, it’s a legacy that could last the club for another 200 years.”

Police are still investigating the arson attack.