La Manga Club has teamed up with Cricket Ireland and Cricket Scotland in a new long-term partnership to create a European Cricket Performance Centre at the world-famous Spanish resort – the first of its kind in Europe.

In a ground-breaking agreement, the top sports and leisure resort has signed a ten-year deal with the two national organisations to develop an exclusive warm-weather overseas training base in Murcia, south-east Spain.

Designed to help prepare men's and women's teams for international cricket as well as assisting with the development of players and coaches, the first phase of the jointly-funded project is set to open in January 2017.

In a joint statement, Cricket Ireland and Cricket Scotland expressed their delight with the development and said: “This is the culmination of a long-term project to develop state-of-the-art training facilities on continental Europe.

“Rather than having to travel to the UAE or further afield to escape our long winters, our players at all levels now have the chance to train in a cost-effective way on world-class grass and artificial surfaces in a warm-weather southern European setting on a year-round basis.

“Both boards extend particular congratulations to Richard Holdsworth for his vision and dedication in working closely with the La Manga Club team over a period of 11 years to bring this important project to fruition.”

Under the terms of the partnership, Cricket Ireland and Cricket Scotland will have exclusive booking options for using the centre as a warm-weather training and playing base for its men's and women's national and provincial senior and youth teams.

Facilities are set to include six updated first-class grass pitches and two artificial wickets on two existing grounds, plus 18 grass and five artificial net lanes – all with 25-yard run-ups. In addition, specialist grass fielding, catching and wicket-keeping areas are also being created.

Work on the artificial pitches is due to be completed by January 2017, with the grass net and pitch areas in use by early spring 2018.

Chad Harpur, director of sports at La Manga Club, said: “This agreement will open up a whole new market for La Manga Club. The cricket facility will be the best in Europe and is something we are very proud to be part of. It has taken many years to get to this point and we'd like to thank everyone involved for believing in the project.

“This is the start of a new chapter in our history and we are all looking forward to it. As a top resort, it is very important that we keep on improving and investing in the future. This is a huge step forward and is further evidence that La Manga Club is still the best sporting resort in Europe.”

Regularly used for warm-weather training breaks by county and international teams as well as being a regular venue for ICC European tournaments, La Manga Club is widely regarded as the 'home of cricket' in Spain.

Boasting an average 300 days' sun a year, the resort's ideal Mediterranean climate makes it possible to train outdoors in the sunshine all-year round, and the cricket centre is a further illustration of La Manga Club's commitment to providing both professional and amateur athletes with the perfect training experience.

Set in 1,400 acres, La Manga Club boasts unrivalled facilities including a High Performance Sports Centre and new state-of-the-art high-altitude training facility iAltitude. Additionally, there are three 18-hole golf courses, a 28-court tennis centre and a 2,000sqm spa and fitness centre. It also offers the choice of a five-star hotel, four-star serviced apartments and more than 20 bars and restaurants.

For more details on La Manga Club, visit www.lamangaclub.com. 

ENDS

Information for journalists

Press release written and distributed on behalf of La Manga Club by the Azalea Group.

La Manga Club
La Manga Club – www.lamangaclub.com – is an unrivalled sports and leisure paradise which sits between the low hills that separate the Mediterranean from the Mar Menor Sea, just 20 minutes from Murcia airport and an hour from Alicante.

Set out over an area of some 560 hectares (approx. 1,400 acres), it enjoys a mild year-round Mediterranean climate and offers visitors a prestigious five-star hotel, luxury vacation apartments and extensive sports facilities, including three championship golf courses, a Leadbetter Golf Academy – the only one in mainland Spain – a 28-court tennis centre and eight grass sports pitches. The resort is also home to innumerable leisure facilities, such as the 2,000m2 Spa La Manga Club with its 13 luxurious treatment rooms, comprehensive fitness centre and 25m indoor swimming pool; meeting, banqueting and incentive facilities, and more than 20 restaurants and bars.

As well as hosting both Davis and Fed Cup tennis matches, La Manga Club has signed a long-term deal to be the overseas training resort of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) until 2019. It has also staged the Spanish Open golf championship and regularly attracts professional and international football teams to the first-class year-round training facilities which are also used by rugby and cricket sides.

As a result of more than 40 years of continued investment, innovation and commitment to excellence, La Manga Club is widely recognised as Spain's flagship resort and as one of the finest sports and lifestyle destinations in the world. Evidence of this is provided by its numerous awards and accolades.

La Manga Club was the proud recipient of a 2013 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel website, for the facilities and service on offer at its five-star Hotel Principe Felipe. The resort has been voted 'Best Golf Hotel/Resort in Spain' by UK readers of Today's Golfer magazine for the last five years and was named 'Best Golf Hotel in Spain' at the 2014 and 2015 World Golf Awards. La Manga Club has long been a staunch supporter of women's golf, being the official overseas resort partner of the English Women's Golf Association for three years as well as hosting the Ladies European Tour (LET) Qualifying School from 2009-12. La Manga Club is also the venue for the Ladies Murcia Open, an LET Access Series event, and regularly hosts top women's amateur events and teams.

• High-resolution images of La Manga Club may be downloaded for editorial purposes from https://goo.gl/oi837y 

For more information on La Manga Club contact Pete Simm on 01730 711920 or email petes@theazaleagroup.com