MEWIES Solicitors Craven League secretary Ann Coe has praised the ECB (England & Wales Cricket Board) and the YCB (Yorkshire Cricket Board) for their prompt action a year ago after the Boxing Day floods.

In her secretary's report to the league's annual meeting at Cross Hills Social Club this month, she said: "The Boxing Day floods were horrendous, no other word for them.

"Our league was devastated. Five clubs were badly affected – they could so easily have gone down the pan with the floodwaters.

"Haworth Road, it’s fair to say, were the worst affected.

"We made light-hearted comments about the storage crate being painted white and using it as a sight-screen.

"That’s the Yorkshire way to try and find humour in everything, even if it’s devastating.

"Then nobody knew what was going to happen to the two cars which were parked on the playing area, or indeed who they belonged to.

"Would the ground be revived after all the water had gone and all the rubbish it had left behind had been removed?

"Was it safe to play cricket? Would the square survive? Would the outfield ever dry out?"

She added: "It wasn’t just Haworth Road. There was Riddlesden, Airedale, Bradford & Bingley and Bingley Congs. All of these clubs were in a real mess.

"The YCB were quick to help, and within hours of the floods taking place they had contact details on their website and e-mails were flying everywhere.

"Our clubs were encouraged to answer these e-mails, even though they didn’t fully know how much damage there was at that time.

"They were encouraged, badgered, nagged – okay I phoned all of them and made sure they did what they had to do, which was to e-mail the YCB and tell them they had been flooded.

"The response from the YCB and ECB was fantastic – no other word for it, they were fantastic.

"All five clubs were looked after financially and were given valuable advice on how to get their fields playable.

"At the start of season 2016, all the clubs were ready to play cricket, and how can we as a league ever thank the YCB and ECB enough?"