A?thief or thieves have made off with more than 88 square feet of new covers from Division 1 champions Super Centre Spartan’s Queen’s Park ground in the heart of Bridgetown.
A disturbed president Clayton Johnson, along with other members of the club, were very annoyed that a large section of the covers, which had only been acquired and used for the last two series of matches, had been cut off.
Groundsman James Humphrey left the covers intact around 11 on Kadooment morning and made the discovery yesterday morning at eight.
“What is disturbing is that the precision of the cut suggested that it was not just vandalism but a calculated theft with the likelihood that the thief might return for more of the covers,” Johnson stated. Humphrey measured the cut at 11’ 2” by 8’ 9”.
The cost of the covers was just over $6 000, and the severed area will make the manoeuvring of the covers even more difficult and allow greater possibility of seepage.
“We received a lot of flak early in the season as we were waiting for the arrival of the covers and we played some games where the pitch was covered but the square was affected by rain because we did not have the adequate covers.
“Although we will be playing away from home for the next series, our grounds will be used this week for the preparation of the WICB Regional Women’s Competition and from next week the World Lawyers Cup will be using our grounds,” Johnson explained.
The president and other concerned members of the club were waiting way after noon for police to arrive and investigate the damage.
Spartan has a full time groundsman, but unlike other grounds where visitors to the area would raise suspicion, Queen’s Park is a thoroughfare almost 24 hours a day.
