English cricket club looks unrecognisable after being scorched by heatwave as groundsman incredibly preserves wicket

ONE of the English crickets oldest clubs has been left with an unrecognisable looking pitch following this summer’s scorching heatwaves. Maidenhead and Bray Cricket Club, founded in 1798, play their cricket out of High Street in Bray, Berkshire. Maidenhead and Bray cricket club looks completely unrecognisable following the summer droughts Credit: instagram Only the area around the wickets remains green while the rest of the ground has been baked dry Credit: Getty Overlooked by the Church of St Michael, they usually play on a well-kept lush looking green lawn which is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the country. However, the intense heat this summer has left eight areas across southern, central, and eastern England on the verge of drought and causing the ground bake under the relentless sun. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Bray has also been hit by THREE heatwaves already this summer, with hosepipe bans being put in place by several water companies including Thames Water and Affinity Water. The latter of those manage Bray, with the bans impacting as many as 20 million people across the UK. Consequently, the playing surface has undergone a stunning transformation from a pristine green surface to a yellow and dusty one. Aerial pictures show the extent of the changes. The entire ground, except for where the wickets are, is now without colour due to the weather. Images on the club’s Instagram page also make for dark viewing. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Best sport travel offers HERE are our top picks of the best sport travel trips this summer. We have teamed up with some of the UK’s finest travel firms to come up with these offers. 🏎️ SEE the Italian Grand Prix with tickets, flights and 5 nights in a hotel for just £789pp. – – MORE DETAILS HERE 🏇 TREAT yourself to a trip to York Ebor with £20 off hospitality – – MORE DETAILS HERE 🎯 WATCH the world’s finest darts players go head to head at Butlin’s Minehead at the PDC Championship Finals — MORE DETAILS HERE * If you click on a link we will earn affiliate revenue. One snap in April shows fans sitting on benches watching a friendly. But fast forward to July 24, and a post celebrating their Under 15s win the Berkshire County Cup showed how bare the ground had become. More heatwaves are expected this summer, with the Met Office warning of a “very warm” spell as we head into August. forecasters say the end of July will feature changeable weather, but high pressure – which could herald a return to higher temperatures – is waiting in the wings. The Met Office says: “As we approach the turn of the month… there are hints that high pressure could return for a time, which would mean dry conditions resuming, especially in the south.” It adds that temperatures during this period will be “near or above normal, warmest in the south, and perhaps becoming very warm again by the start of August.” Moving further into next month, from Tuesday, 4 August to Tuesday, 18 August, the outlook becomes even warmer. The Met Office says: “Higher pressure is considered generally more likely than lower pressure through August. This means settled and dry weather will likely prevail, especially across the south.” Comment now