WORCESTERSHIRE'S cricketers are swapping their bats for bricks and their pads for paint pots this weekend as they roll up their sleeves and get stuck into the annual NatWest CricketForce event.

More than 1,000 cricket clubs and an estimated 70,000 volunteers have signed up to take part in the national scheme, which aims to rejuvenate cricket facilities across the country.

County players will be taking to the road as they visit 14 local cricket clubs to help out with various projects in preparation for the new season.

Graeme Hick, Stephen Moore, Steven Davies and Richard Jones will be at Swindon CC, an ECB showcase club, where they will be helping to lay a new patio area, redecorating the pavilion and repairing covers.

Hick said: "Ventures like this make a huge difference to the facilities available to young players. We all started at club level and it is vital that we do as much as we can to support the next generation of cricketers by providing the best resources possible."

Other players visiting clubs: Ray Price (Halesowen, Pedmore), Stuart Wedge (Himley, Stourbridge), Daryl Mitchell (Evesham), Matt Mason (Droitwich, Kidderminster), Steve Rh-odes (Pershore), Ben Smith (Bar-nards Green), Nadeem Malik and Roger Sillence (Bromsgrove and Astwood Bank).