"Cricket perfectly complements the variety of sports we already host, and it offers the opportunity for our guests to become familiar with this wonderful sport. We are proud to partner with Cricket Finland," said Petri Jakonen, the CEO of Eerikkilä.
Maija Scamans, Cricket Finland's operations director, expressed his delight, calling the facility an important stepping stone in the development of the game in Finland.
"Opening the Kerava National Cricket Ground in 2014 represented a significant step in raising the level of Finnish cricket in general, both in terms of playing and hosting domestic and international matches. This new training facility at Eerikkilä is an important addition to the sport's training infrastructure," she said.
https://twitter.com/CricketFinland/status/1265213723507142657?s=20
"We initially went to check out the location and to present our visions of cooperation back in January 2019 – our ideas were aimed to further develop everything from low-threshold grassroots junior and women's cricket all the way up to elite-level national team training. Now, 18 months later, this project connecting Eerikkilä with Cricket Finland, supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture has been completed," Scamans concluded.
While underlining the importance of playing top-level cricket, Andrew Armitage, chairman of Cricket Finland, said he thinks the facility will aid in the development of players at all level - from international to club cricket.
"Playing cricket at the top level requires continuous, versatile cricket-specific training. Training opportunities outside of the summer season have been completely lacking. The great new training facility at Eerikkilä will have a huge impact and benefit to both national squad and club teams that use it."