A £30m investment in cricket facilities and training will be made available for clubs throughout England and Wales – the largest investment to date.

The England and Wales Cricket Board’s five-year strategy incorporates a £14m grant to 2,000 community clubs and a doubling of interest-free loans to community clubs to £10m, as well as £5m to help county venues achieve model status by 2011.

Facilities will be further improved via a £9m grant for the installation of international standard floodlighting at all county headquarter grounds and £6m towards Lord’s style drainage at all international venues with a subsequent roll out to all counties.

Investment in training will include a 50 per cent subsidy to 10,000 coaches qualifying in Levels 1 and 2 and those converting to Levels 3 and 4; annual scholarships to allow 36 young English cricketers to benefit from playing in overseas conditions; and coaching contracts for players in the country’s women’s teams in support of the existing Chance to Shine programme, which will also receive a doubling of funding to enhance cricket in schools.

Chief executive David Collier said: “In 2007 participation levels grew by a remarkable 27 per cent overall and 45 per cent in the women’s game. At the same time Chance to Shine has captured the imagination of schools and children throughout the country, so investment in facilities must be a key priority if these gains in participation levels are to be sustainable.

“The plan invests in county club facilities at all levels to create model venues at each headquarter venue and floodlit cricket will allow one-day matches, in particular 50-over cricket, to be played in spectators’ leisure time.”