“Most grounds will never reach the hardness that we are able to create at Old Trafford”
In the nets the glue prolonged the use of the surface Using glue doesn’t sort out any
problems other than slightly prolonging the life of a pitch, and this is only of benefit for one-day games. I wouldn’t consider using glue for any game longer than a day, because the whole point of a three, four or five day game is that the conditions degenerate for both batsmen and bowlers.
Everyone must remember that at Old
Trafford we have very hard wickets and the use of glue in our situation has helped to keep a one-day track from breaking up, allowing it to be re-used maybe two months later. At our level, with the use of covers and the amount of studded foot traffic on the square, the glue does give the pitches a longer life. In the nets, where balls are constantly pitched in the same place, the glue again prolonged the use of the surface during
practice. However the balls do not bounce better or travel at a faster pace. The pitch still has to be right underneath; soft ground, which many club sides play on, and low and slow wickets will not be improved. Resolve those problems first before even contemplating the use of glue. Most grounds will never reach the
hardness that we are able to create at Old Trafford. The glue is used just to seal the top and, on a pitch that’s like concrete, it can work fine. Any pitch that has give in it will not really benefit from this technique.
I should point out that we have used glue for only one Twenty20 fixture this season, but it sits in my armoury in case I feel the need to use it in the future. I’m also worried that groundsmen will go and put on too much glue and maybe
even the wrong type of glue. We trialed various glues and settled on the Unibond Super PVA. It cost more but gave us the consistency that we were looking for. We use it sparingly, spraying approximately 20 litres of glue mix (4 parts water: 1 part glue) through a knapsack sprayer to each pitch. We apply the glue at least a day before the game, let it soak in and harden off, before a final roll on the day of the match. So far we haven’t seen any agronomic adverse affects using glue; it breaks down quickly after use and we’ve had no problem with overseeding and establishing grass after use. If you are going to try glue then
exercise caution, try it on your practice area, and try a few different solutions until you find what may work best in your situation.
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