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FORMER England cricketer Chris Read is to open new nets at Stoke Gabriel CC later this year.

   Stoke players and officials have been hard at work all winter raising money for two new nets, which are being laid out behind the pavilion.

   Work on the new nets will be complete by the end of April, ready for the start of the new season in May.

   The new nets cost around £8,000 to lay out. Stoke have been glad of grant aid from a number of sources, which include the Lord's Taverners, Gemini FM, South Hams Radio, Devon Rural Fund, South Devon Youth Coaching Association, Snowdon Honda, Euro Disney, Totnes Rotary Club and the Devon Playing Fields Association.

   The nets are bound to get plenty of use as Stoke run four youth teams, from U11 to U17 level, two Saturday sides and a Sunday XI. They are the latest in a set of improvements to the picturesque ground at Aish, which started with a new dressing room block last year.

   Read, who is captain of Notttinghamshire this season, will be fitting in a visit to Stoke in late August to declare the nets officially open. He is a former Paignton and Devon wicketkeeper-batsman.

   Stoke hope to have a fun game for charity the same day against a Gemini FM XI.

   Stoke are always on the lookout for new members. For details of what he club has to offer, check out the website, which is www.stokegabrielcc.co.uk .