A 170-year-old cricket pitch has been saved, thanks to the Cambridge Evening News.

Historic city green, Parker's Piece, was under threat after Cambridge City Council announced it was planning to stop the £12,000 funding needed to maintain the wickets.

The pitch was where the career of legendary batsman Sir Jack Hobbs was launched, and the news that it was under threat was met with outrage.

The Evening News was inundated with letters of protest, as was its website www.cambridge-news.co.uk, and an online poll on the fate of the green attracted a massive response, with more than 600 people voting in one day.

Ninety per cent of all those who voted said Parker's Piece should be saved.

Pleas by the Evening News were also backed by cricketing celebrities such as Mike Gatting and Michael Atherton, as well as former PM John Major.

Impressed by the strength of local feeling, the city council has now said that it is determined to find funding for the green's upkeep.

Coun Joye Rosenstiel said: "I am delighted to announce that cricket will continue on Parker's Piece.

"We were very impressed by the arguments people had about the traditions of cricket on the Piece. The incredible strength of feeling expressed through the pages of the News has persuaded us to find the extra money to let cricket continue."

Evening News editor Murray Morse said he was delighted by the turnaround.

He said: "Parker's Piece has played a role in the cricketing community for centuries and we were disgusted when we found out what the council planned to do.

"Part of a local paper's role is to campaign for community groups and we felt this was an important issue."

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