MEMBERS of a Keighley cricket club – who saw their ground completely submerged by flood water – are back in the game thanks to a major recovery effort.

Airedale Cricket Club was able to stage its first 2016 match at its home ground earlier this month, despite being inundated on Boxing Day last year.

It has received a £5,000 grant from Sport England to help repair the damage caused when the River Aire burst its banks.

Airedale CC chairman, Tim Crossley, said the club, which is is near East Riddlesden Hall and leases land from the National Trust, has been at its current base since 1956.

However, he and his colleagues had never seen such severe flooding before.

"When Stockbridge flooded in 2000, the water came up to the bottom of the steps to our pavilion," he said.

"On Boxing Day, the water was lapping at the top of the steps. The photos I took just showed a sea of water all the way to Marley. It was indescribable.

"It wasn't just the Aire, it was also the sheer volume of water coming down the Worth Valley, which was unprecedented."

Mr Crossley said the water narrowly missed flooding the pavilion, but did enter the club's score box and storage area, as well as covering the field and pitch with silt and debris.

He added: "We have a wire fence, which surrounds our field, and when the waters receded, this acted like a trawl and collected everything.

"It took us about two to three weeks just to clear that, and then we needed to do a fingertip search of the playing area because we know from past floods there's a danger of nasty objects being left on the surface.

"We couldn't get mechanised equipment on the ground until the middle of April because the ground was still so wet.

"But we've had a dedicated group of about ten guys at the club, who've been down here week after week doing what they can to get us up and running."

Mr Crossley, who has been at the club since 1987, said the Craven League had been extremely supportive.

He also paid tribute to the Yorkshire Cricket Board and the England Cricket Board for their help with advising the club on where to apply for grants.

The Sport England funding will be used to rebuild the score box and to create drainage gullies to help prevent further flooding.

Keighley MP Kris Hopkins said he was impressed by what he saw at the club when he toured it earlier this month.

He added: "The club is in a beautiful setting close to East Riddlesden Hall, and it's unbelievable to see the difference between the Christmas period and now."

Mr Crossley said a lot of work still remained, with the flood-damaged score box not likely to be replaced until the end of the season.