Renovations at Sea Breeze Oval have forced a change in venue for this year’s Eastern Counties matches to Lord’s.

In a notice sent out on Monday, the Eastern Counties Cricket Association announced the switch in venue, without giving any explanation. “Please be advised that our 2025 Eastern County Cricket Games will be hosted at St David’s Cricket Club and not Bailey’s Bay as scheduled,” the ECCA said.

While efforts to obtain a comment from Stephen Outerbridge, the Bay president were unsuccessful, The Royal Gazette has verified that infrastructural renovations that will be taking place at the club in the coming months caused the shift.

A visit to Sea Breeze Oval showed that part of the players pavilion roofing, that was damaged by Hurricane Ernesto last August, has been ripped off in preparation for the makeover.

“St David’s will be hosting the matches this year due to Bailey’s Bay not being able to host because of renovations at the club,” a source said.

“Because the costs associated with the renovations are too high, these will be carried out over a period of time. Safety of the fans had to be prioritised, Bay could have hosted and only accommodated a smaller number of spectators, but they decided to let St David’s host the matches on their behalf where there will be no restrictions.

“Since the matches rotate between the two venues, St David’s will host again next year because it will be their turn.

“League matches should go ahead at Bay as the work planned has nothing to do with the actual field. The spectators for league matches are also manageable compared to Eastern Counties, where we are looking at thousands of fans.”

According to the draw conducted last year, Bay, the champions since 2022, will put their title on the line against Flatts on July 19. Winners of that encounter progress to face Cleveland County on August 16 with St David’s waiting for the victorious side in the final on August 30.