TONGE Cricket Club's juniors have received a boost with the donation of 15 bats by Lancashire Cricket Club.

The Bolton League club is gradually building up its junior section as it continues to recover from a difficult period on and off the field.

A mid-table finish for its first team in the Bolton League's Association division would be seen as a success this season after finishing bottom of the league for the last two seasons.

And numbers are on the up in the junior section as Tonge continue to work to get things right throughout all areas of the club.

Tonge have been hit in recent years by the after-effects of relying on signing top players in the past in search of success at the expense of establishing a solid platform of local players and juniors.

The club have worked tirelessly to put that right in recent years, refusing to take easy options offered by the league to help them but preferring to battle through.

And, together with a committed and determined core of players and volunteers, they have made great strides.

Performances this season have shown a big improvement with a stronger squad being built by captain Danny Delvard, who is in his second year in the role, and benefitting from the coaching, advice and experience of Bolton League veteran Nigel Partington who joined the club in the winter.

Off the field the facilities are being improved with the new bats donated by the Lancashire Cricket Club Foundation – the charity and community arm of the county club – adding to two new sightscreens donated by homebuilder Taylor Wimpey Manchester and replacement roll-on roll-off covers acquired recently.

On the donation of the bats, which were presented to the club's juniors by Bolton umpire Karen Knott before a recent first-team Twenty20 home game against Darcy Lever, chairman Paul Schofield said: "We applied for 15 bats and were fortunate enough to gain the award for all 15.

"This award means a lot to the club and the junior section and we give a big thank-you to Sandy Mitchell from LCCC Foundation for making this donation possible and to Karen Knott from BCL Umpires for presenting the bats."