THE rain relented in time and around 300 people gathered to celebrate the official opening of Swarkestone Cricket Club's new pavilion.

And what followed had a certain symmetry, as a Swarkestone XI beat a Derbyshire invitation XI on the last ball of a Twenty20 match.

The winning runs were hit by Sam Stuart, 19-year-old son of the man who supervised the building project, Dermot Stuart, off the bowling of Chris Grant, the local businessman who contributed much of the funding for the pavilion.

There was a sense of history to the opening itself, too, as the tape was cut by a vice-president of the club, Susie Dixon, the daughter of Tom Kitching, who established the ground at Barrow Turn in 1946, the club having previously played at Ingleby since its inception in 1898.

The new pavilion was much needed. The old one was an Army hut – purchased from Markeaton Park for £94 – which had replaced a railway carriage in 1954.

Designs were drawn up in January, 2009, planning permission being granted in the May.

Funding was a tougher prospect in the present economic climate and with many sources being directed towards the 2012 London Olympics.

Dermot Stuart wrote a welter of applications but nothing came from Sport England, for example.

The Derbyshire Community Foundation, South Derbyshire District Council, the Low Carbon Building Programme and the Community Sustainable Energy Programme, however, were among bodies who did help.

Inevitably, there was a shortfall but the return to the village of Grant, who had retired after making his fortune in the City, proved the club's salvation.

Grant offered to underwrite the remainder of the project – although he has done more than just throw money at it.

He has also instigated a number of good housekeeping measures, including applying for charitable status, which can be hugely advantageous for sports clubs.

Local builder Shaun Roberts Downing completed the pavilion on schedule on April 23, the day before the start of the 2010 season.

Valued at £250,000, it is an exceptionally "green" building, with a state of the art wood-fuelled boiler system which has earned the club a Grade A-rated Energy Performance Certificate.

More importantly, from a cricketing point of view, the pavilion meets all current ECB standards, ensuring the club can go up to the Derbyshire Premier League, should they finish in one of the two County League Division One promotion places.

Work will not stop there, since more than £1,000 was raised on the opening day to go towards new net facilities, which will be the big job for club members this winter.