Village cricket club is accused of breaching ancient law by banning New Forest ponies from grazing on its pitch – because they are ruining the grass

A village cricket club has been accused of breaching an ancient countryside law by trying to stop ponies grazing on their pitch.

Cadnam Cricket Club has blocked New Forest ponies from grazing on its grass as part of a £20,000 bid to improve its lacklustre ground.

The tiny horses which roam the New Forest freely have been allowed to graze on the pitch for decades, but this has caused divots all over the playing surface.

Rival teams began to complain about the conditions at the club and warned it has become ‘too dangerous’ for players.

Now the club has caused a row with a livestock association who claim they are in breach of Forestry England licence by stopping the animals grazing.

The New Forest Commoners Defence Association said the club simply must put up with divots on their pitch because ‘animals have a lot of rights here’.

Andrew Parry-Norton, chairman of the Association, said ‘we have different laws in the forest’ and Cadnam Cricket Club should not expect to have ‘the same lawns like in a city or town’.

Cadnam Cricket Club spent £14,000 installing a wooden fence to replace their old wire fence as part of their bid to keep animals out.

Controversially, the club has now closed the gate to keep the horses out. In previous years it was also left open after the end of the cricket season.

Craig Cox, coordinator at Cadnam, said the club also spent £5,000 renovating the cricket square.

It comes after their pitch was voted one of the worst in Hampshire.

Mr Cox said The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) even warned them their cricket square is dangerous.

New Forest ponies appear to be the worst offenders, leaving the pitch with an uneven surface.

Mr Parry-Norton says he represents the views of ‘commoners’ in the New Forest, people who have rights to turn ponies, cattle, pigs, donkeys and sheep out to graze across the New Forest National Park.

He said keeping the gate closed to the cricket grounds is a ‘breach of the Forestry England licence.’

Cadnam Cricket Club have blocked off the ponies after the club’s pitch was voted one of the worst in Hampshire

He said: ‘They can’t do that. The animals have grazed that outfield for a long, long time now.

‘If the animals have grazed it, you can’t restrict the animals off it. The license has to take into consideration their use.

‘They are in breach of that licence. I understand what they are trying to do, but it is never going to be perfect.

‘You are not going to have the same lawns like in a city or town. You play with what is around you.

‘The animals have grazed this cricket ground for tens of years. If it does create new divots by ponies walking on it, they can be filled in quite easily.

‘They took it on as a Forest club, and that is the way it has to be maintained.

‘You can’t change what has gone on for a long, long time.

‘Animals have a lot of rights here. We have different laws in the Forest.

‘They are planning to reopen it this year, but there should not be any question that the gate should be open.

‘It is black and white, the gate should have been open, and it should have been open a long time ago.’

Andrew Parry-Norton, chairman of the New Forest Commoners Defence Association pictured with his wife Sarah

Cadnam Cricket Club coordinator Mr Cox said they followed the rules.

‘The fence that has been erected now is there because we had a wire fence. It was dangerous to people and the livestock,’ he said. 

‘We had to adhere to the specification of Forestry England. We could have done it on the cheap, but we had to adhere to the specifications.

‘In regard to closing the gate this season, we have a colt section and a ladies section.

‘I am responsible for the colt section, and the square in previous years has been borderline dangerous.

‘The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has told us it is dangerous.

‘We have engaged with Forestry England, and we have adhered to that all the way through.

‘We have spent £5,000 in renovations to the square, and what we do not want to happen is for the livestock to come in and get over the fencing, destroying that £5,000 worth of work.’

Mr Cox said the renovations were all about ‘safety’ and making sure that its members could enjoy playing cricket without fear of injury.

He said: ‘For us this is about the safety of our children and our members but also making the cricket club more engaging for other members of the community.

‘I have lived in the Forest for my entire life, and I want Forest cricket to be engaging.

‘We accepted that the grounds are not going to be as good as ones in towns and cities. We have quite a lot of restrictions around what you can do. We can’t use big heavy machinery to roll the field.

‘It is not about making it a nice place, but making it safe. I have kids as young as six come along, and I can’t have them twisting an ankle.

‘I feel it is our duty to do everything we can to make our pitches as safe as possible.’

He said closing the gate is a ‘temporary’ measure and they will open the gate next year but he admitted a ‘conversation’ needed to be had about the importance of opening it up.

He said: ‘Ideally we don’t want to open it up. We are going to have to do this refurb over a number of years. But we will open it next year.

‘The ideal scenario is that we have a conversation about whether it is that important to open it up. I am from the forest and I have friends who are commoners.

‘I understand that it sets a precedent of closing things in the New Forest. But it is just this one season.’

The new fence was put up to block the animals from getting in after rival cricket clubs complained about the ‘dangerous’ pitch

Mr Cox said Forestry England had asked the club to replace their fencing as it needed to be safe for livestock.

He said: ‘I am not sure what more we could have done to have it in keeping with the area.’

George Taylor, treasurer of the cricket club, said they paid in excess of £14,000 to replace the fencing in line with Forestry England standards.

He said: ‘This was paid entirely by the club and club sponsors. This was done at short notice to prevent harm to the forest wildlife.’

Mr Cox said the club had been in contact with members of the Commoners Defence Association about its changes, but he said they were met with ‘complete resistance’.

He said: ‘They are not willing to listen to our concerns and come up with a suitable and amenable plan.’

He stressed that all the club staff are volunteers and they are a ‘charity’ that wants to help bring cricket to the New Forest community.

He said the club does not use ‘heavy machinery’ and just uses scarifying machinery and rollers to keep the pitch match-ready.

The seed used by the club is also regulated, and he said it is what Natural England requires.

Commenting on social media, Sam Godfrey said: ‘The uproar about the fence being inadequate last year, we pay through the tooth to get an approved fence installed so stock don’t get trapped and now the fence is ‘not in keeping.’

‘It’s made of Forest wood by a New Forest company and was approved by Forestry England, it couldn’t be any more in keeping!

‘Hundreds of people rely on the club and rely on the facilities being as good as they can be, the only thing achieved by deliberately ruining the ground and starting a witch hunt on a club that dare try and improve is causing upset to numerous children and adults who get so much out of the club in the summer.’