A couple of weeks ago, two junior cricket teams made their way down to Kiama’s one-of-a-kind ocean-view pitch at Blacks Beach for a weekend match.

Dressed in their whites, they walked out at sunrise only to discover that, sometime in the previous days or nights, the pitch had been damaged.

“They noticed some damage to the wicket caused by an e-bike,” said Kiama Cricket Club president Bernie Brown. “Someone had ridden their bike there and melted the synthetic, and then ridden off.”

Fortunately, the damage was in a spot that didn’t affect play, and the match went ahead. But Brown said the situation could easily have been much worse.

“If that vandalism is in the wrong spot, it makes the pitch dangerous and unplayable, and the kids miss out. We have to transfer them to other fields outside the region, potentially, and they don't get to enjoy one of the most picturesque sporting fields in the country,” he said.

“It’s a wonderful facility. Everyone loves playing down there. It’s heavily used by our junior teams midweek and on weekends, so it would be really unfortunate - and a significant cost - to patch, repair or replace the synthetic surface.”

A close up of the vandalism at the Blacks Beach cricket pitch. Photo: Bernie Brown

Adding to the frustration, Brown noted the pitch had been rebuilt and resurfaced just three years ago using a Kiama Council grant.

“A lot of hard work from our volunteers and community money went into restoring that facility. It’s disheartening to see that time, energy, and community investment being destroyed by vandalism,” he said.

Although the damage is outside the line of play, Brown hopes it can be repaired quickly to avoid encouraging further incidents.

“We don’t want it looked at and replicated by another e-bike user thinking they can copycat. So we’re working with Council to have it patched and repaired - even though it’s not in play - just for the amenity and ongoing safety of the facility,” he said.

This isn’t the only instance of vandalism the club has faced. The Gainsborough Oval cricket nets were also vandalised in a similar e-bike incident.

“We’ve just been successful in getting a grant to have the damage at the nets replaced and repaired, so the juniors can continue to use that area safely,” Brown said.

The new gate installed at the Gainsborough Oval cricket nets. Photo: Bernie Brown

To protect the nets, Brown has been forced to install a gate - something he had hoped to avoid.

“It’s unfortunate because we want the facility to be available to the public and the community at all times, not fenced off and padlocked just to stop this behaviour,” he said.

“However, we can’t continually ask for grant funding or raise money ourselves to keep replacing facilities that are being attacked by vandals on e-bikes.”

Despite both incidents involving e-bikes, Brown stressed that the club has no issue with the bikes themselves.

“We’re not against legal e-bikes, but we’re definitely against vandalism and the destruction of community assets.

"There are plenty of other places they could use them on private property - not on cricket wickets. It’s really disheartening.”

Brown even extended an invitation to those responsible for the vandalism - at the pitch or anywhere else in Kiama - to join the cricket club instead.

“We want to put it out there: come and enjoy a game of cricket. Come to our training. Learn to enjoy the sport as much as we do, and hopefully gain greater respect for community infrastructure by seeing the effects of vandalism,” he said.

“It affects the kids, the sporting outcomes, everything. We’d invite them to come along and enjoy cricket. I’d love it if they walked away thinking cricket was a better use of their time.”