Albury Cricket Club hit by vandals

Vandals smashed a window to gain entry to the club rooms in the early hours of Friday morning, stealing at least $500 from the till and a large quantity of alcohol before damaging a large television on the wall.

They ransacked a storage area, made off with several iPads and left their unfinished beers on the bar.

"You hear stories of other clubs being broken into all the time and it's very sad that it's now happened to us," Albury secretary Jon van Ree said.

"We've worked hard to make this a place where people can come and enjoy themselves.

"We're an inclusive club in the community and we're all about being positive through sport but when you start getting stuff like this, as a volunteer, it's heart-breaking because of the time and effort you put in to make sure the club's financially stable.

"You budget every year to get yourselves through and we can't really afford these losses.

"You know the volunteers that are doing all the hard work and now we're basically going to be doing it for nothing this year. There's going to be no reward for them.

"It's not like you can come down on a Saturday and watch the Big Bash on the telly, which a lot of blokes like to do.

"We'll try to recover financially but it's going to cost us more again when it comes to having a look at our security systems and changing locks.

"They're all extra costs on top of what's been taken."

Albury club president Cameron Walker said the vandals were believed to have struck shortly after midnight.

"One of the neighbours said he heard a bang, came out and saw some kids walking off, so he rang the police," Walker said.

"It's hard to say, without having a really good look, what's been stolen but the damage alone is worth several thousand dollars.

"I'd estimate five to 10 grand and that's a massive amount of money.

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"Sponsors have put their hand in their pocket and volunteers do all the work so it's pretty gutting.

"You feel sick in your stomach knowing someone has done this to your club.

"I've been involved at the club for over 10 years and this is the first break-in we've had, so we're probably lucky compared to a lot of other clubs.

"Being that we're in central Albury and it's a little bit open, it's pretty brazen and then they've just walked off as if it's their right to do so.

"I would hope this binds us closer together and gives us a little bit more fire in the belly to continue what we're doing and perform on the field."

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