Northern Irish sports minister Nelson McCausland has attended a turf cutting ceremony to mark the start of construction work on new cricket facilities at Muckamore Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club (MCLTC), County Antrim.

The Northern Ireland Executive has contributed £124,000 towards the scheme through the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and Sport Northern Ireland, which will include six new turf cricket pitches and one new artificial cricket pitch. Two full-size covered training bays and new drainage at the second ground to allow for the creation of a football pitch also form part of the development at the venue.

McCausland said: "MCLTC has celebrated more than 100 years of play at its Moylena grounds and is one of the oldest clubs in Northern Ireland having been founded in 1874. "These new grounds represent a great investment in its future and provides this club and the sport with international standard cricket pitches in Antrim."

MCLTC chair Harry McFadden added: "I am hopeful that the new facilities will be used by Cricket Ireland to host international games, so enhancing the profile of cricket throughout the Antrim Borough and further afield."