Cricket club Muslims snub lottery lifeline

A CRICKET club says its future is at risk because it cannot accept Lottery funding as its members are predominantly Muslim.

Officials at Mount Cricket Club in Batley, West Yorks, say it needs £2million to upgrade its facilities.

However, Sport England, which gives grants for such works, is funded by the National Lottery.

Although the club is open to players of all faiths, the demographic of its area means it is made up of mainly Muslims, whose faith prohibits gambling.

The club, which has earned praise for its work in its local community, says it now faces an uncertain future due to the lack of alternative funding sources.

Abdul Ravat, a spokesman for the club, which hosts food banks, works with schools and seeks to bring communities together, said it could not sustain its work on current funding.

Mr Ravat said: “The problem we’ll have is that we want to be able to serve our community in the ways we want to, but how can we do that if we can’t fund it?

“There is a disparity between us and other clubs. Clubs under threat of flooding rightly receive funding to shore up defences.

“If we were in that position, we wouldn’t be able to receive a penny because it’s lottery-funded.”

The club has launched a campaign calling on the government to “level the playing field”.

Mr Ravat added: “We’ve been going for 43 years and survived on support from the community, subscriptions from our players and donations from the council.

“We have a £2 million project, but that money has to come from Sport England and that is lottery-funded, which is the problem for us.”

Phil Smith, director of sport at Sport England, said: “For those unable to accept National Lottery funding for religious reasons, we have the scope to fund smaller projects from other sources.

“If we can offer a grant, we will ensure that the grant does not come from National Lottery funding.”