NEWS that a part of Worcester’s sporting history is to be saved from the bulldozers is a cause for celebration.

The cricket pavilion at the Cinderella Sports Ground in St John’s looked doomed to demolition earlier this year after a High Court judge stripped the area around it of conservation status.

Now Worcester City Council has struck a deal with developers planning housing on another part of the old Cinderella Works site.

The former sports ground, including the black and white pavilion, will be leased back to the city on a peppercorn rent.

That is great news for Worcester – but there is a catch.

Saving the pavilion is one thing but getting it into a workable state again after years of decay and neglect is quite another.

The city council says it does not have the money to restore the ground and pavilion and is looking for help from either local sports clubs who would want to use the site or from anyone with deep pockets and a desire to see a part of Worcester’s sporting history restored to its original use.

We hope their appeal for assistance is successful. The pavilion is part of the rich tapestry of Worcester’s sporting life. To see it back in action again would be wonderful.

For now we should celebrate that it has been saved – but there is clearly some way to go before it is back on the list of the city’s sports venues.