Professional cricket arrives in Grantham on Friday as part of a tie-in with Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club.

Grantham Cricket Club was approached to become an outground for Nottinghamshire CCC - which competes in the Specsavers County Championship Division One - to host nine 1st XI matches over the next five years.

"We knew the World Cup was coming this year and that scheduling would require us to find an alternative venue for a 50-over game," said Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell.

"We've played second team cricket at Grantham, during which we've been looking at the facilities and thinking about how it might work for a full fixture.

"We put a side out in 2017 that was pretty much a first team in preparation for the Blast. They all tried out the facilities and liked what they saw.

"We're confident that everything is in place and we are looking forward to putting a show on there, both for locals and for our members and travelling supporters."

To host the matches, Grantham CC's Gorse Lane ground needed a new electronic scoreboard as the existing one did not display sufficient information required for hosting a first class game.

The England and Wales Cricket Board visited the club and offered a significant grant to meet the costs of installing the new scoreboard, which received planning approval by South Kesteven District Council last week.

It was put in place at the weekend at the opposite side of the boundary to the existing scoreboard to enable all spectators to see a scoreboard wherever they are sitting.

The first professional cricket at Grantham is the London One-Day Cup on Friday (May 3) when The Outlaws will play their penultimate group match against visitors Durham, starting at 11am.

Full details of the match are available by clicking the red button below.