THE season may have ended on Saturday, but the physical challenges are only just beginning for some of Toft Cricket Club’s players.

Indeed, several team members are going the extra mile through the pain barrier in order to raise much-needed funds for the club’s new pavilion.

Chief among them is the sacrifice of Ed Stubbs, who has set himself the remarkable challenge of running all the way from Bristol back to the club’s Booths Park ground.

Having set off from Gloucestershire County Cricket Club’s home ground, Stubbs will run 165 miles over six days to arrive back at the club as part of a special fundraising day on Saturday, September 24.

He is due to arrive back at Toft in time for the end of a special friendly match between Toft Taverners – the club’s charity side – and the club’s women’s team, which gets underway at 1pm.

Stubbs has also challenged each team at the club to run/walk laps of the Booths Park pitch to get as close as possible to matching the equivalent of his 165 miles (663 laps), with many members and their friends and family already pledging laps and fundraising off the back of their own efforts.

Saturday also marks the finish of a 24-hour fundraising “batathon” being undertaken by first-team captain Jimmy Lomas and vice-captain Tom Forster.

Club members and players from throughout the Cheshire League have signed up to bowl 30-minute slots to bowl at the pair in the Toft nets at £10 per session, with the challenge due to finish at 3pm on Saturday.

There are a couple of slots left which can be booked by messaging any of the Toft CC social media accounts.

In addition, Joe Stanley – general manager at The Beeches Golf Driving Range in Ollerton – has challenged himself to hit over 4,000 golf balls – the distance from the famous Lords Cricket Ground to Toft – using only a lob wedge, a club designed for height not distance.

Joe will be starting on Tuesday at The Beeches, finishing on Friday, hitting over 1,000 balls each day.