PLYMOUTH Cricket Club are in a race against the clock to finish an ambitious pavilions project before the start of the new season.

The Devon League Premier Division outfit is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on the new pavilions building at their Mount Wise base.

Just a few years ago, the club was on the verge of going bust after losing their previous home in Outland Road.

Now they are about to start work on the new two-storey building, which should give the club some handy income.

But having demolished their former pavilion – an ageing wooden building – Plymouth need to get their new home finished before the Premier season reopens in May.

Facilities manager and club committee member Andy Sewell said a few of Plymouth's home fixtures in May had already been switched to away games to give them more time to get the building completed.

He said: "It must be done by the opening of the season.

"We raised a lot of money towards the cost of the building, but we also had grants from the English Cricket Board, Sport England and other local funders.

"The thing with grants is that if you don't take them up within a certain time, you have to reapply, and that's something we wouldn't want to do."

The new building includes changing rooms on the ground floor, with a function suite, members' area and fully-licensed bar contained in the second storey.

Sewell said: "Devon used to play their matches at Mount Wise and we hope to attract touring sides.

"There is a huge amount of interest in cricket and to have a ground in Plymouth of this standard is something the city should have."

Club chairman Jerry Caley, who with long-standing first team player Dave Burke, was at the forefront of driving the plan forward, said it was one of the most exciting in the club's history.

Caley added: "The club was nearly bankrupt a few years ago, coupled with the prospect of having no ground to play on after having to move from our ground at Outland Road.

"We are now the only team in Plymouth playing in the Devon Premier League and we will soon have the facilities that can cater for the future development of both the club and the ties with the local community.

THE club is looking for local sponsors and a buy a brick scheme has been launched to help raise more funds. Contact the club via www.plymouthcricket.com