“Deep drilling with a 12mm bit is, without doubt, the most effective form of aeration for cricket squares”
Chris Wood, ECB Pitches Consultant
performance assessment. Steve used to work with a South African coach at Derbyshire CC who reckoned that deep drill was far better than relaying a wicket. “We drilled 7 to 8 inches down using a 24mm drill bit and hand filled and firmed them with loam. We’ll repeat this again this time and, as was proven last time, we’re confident this will nail together the root break we have been experiencing - watch this space or your TV next summer to see if it’s worked!” Recommendation for the Deep Drill aerator at Trent Bridge had also come from high places. ECB pitches consultant Chris Wood had no hesitation in saying, “Deep drilling with a 12 mm bit is, without doubt, the most effective form of aeration for cricket squares. There’s no pull or linear fracture (which cause new grass roots to grow sideways) and no heave. It’s definitely value for money.” Trent Bridge’s wickets were not playing well due to a layering problem. There was surface
cracking and soil separation and Chris asked
Ecosolve to drill a trial area which would be hand filled with a loam that matched the top dressing loam, thus pulling the layers together. It worked and four more wickets were done. After a positive ODI
inspection, Steve Birks was
delighted and said the deep drilled wickets had played better this year than ever before and were the best on the whole square, with no cracking as had previously been experienced. Visible results at Trent Bridge have convinced Northants CCC head groundsman Paul Marshall to use deep drill for his own wickets which had been very hard, with no water penetration. “They did four wickets in a very smooth operation which, unlike verti- spikes, caused no disruption to the ground. I’m confident that we’ll see great improvement.”
The best technique for
Trent Bridge was found to be drilling 24 mm inch wide holes and doing a double pass with the machine so that the holes were never more than 3.5 inches apart. The filings were wheelbarrowed away and hand filling with Surrey Loams gave a consistent consolidation of the loam in the hole with no subsidence. Essex CCC’s ground at Chelmsford has been in excellent condition following
deep drill as have the outgrounds at Southend, Ilford,
Colchester and
Before Restoration After Restoration Moss Control also available
For friendly advice or a site visit ring 01675 470770
21
www.pitchcare.com/re 51
www.sweepfast.com
Artificial Turf Maintenance Specialist Artificial Turf Maintenance
U.K. importers & Manufacturers of the Triple Greensweep
U.K. importers of the Cleansweep
Artificial Turf Restoration
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