“... the whole concept of the pitch advisory scheme is to improve
facilities and people’s
understanding of what is required to deliver safe and consistent playing surfaces”
The ECB advisor will generally use five basic items of equipment to make measured assessments:
1. A soil core sampler 2. 3 metre straight edge 3. Square quadrant 4. Ball drop device
5. Bathroom scales to measure ASSB (motty tests).
Once on site the advisor will carry out a series of measurements to collate data for the report. As with any written protocols and reports they often seem intimidating, however, it is not until you see the PQS in action you realise how simple and effective the whole process is. And, more importantly, see how relevant it is to your understanding and decision- making when maintaining the surface. So, to find out how easy the process is I met up with ECB Pitch advisor Geoff Calcott from the Warwickshire Groundsmen Association who was conducting a PQS assessment for Attock
Cricket Club in Birmingham, who play at Moseley School.
Ball bounce and the ASSB (motty test)
were not required for this assessment. Geoff has over twenty-five years
experience as a Groundsman and has been an ECB pitch advisor since the scheme started some three years ago. He was keen to emphasise that the whole purpose of the assessment is to improve facilities and people’s understanding of what is required to deliver safe and consistent playing surfaces.
At the club, Geoff took time to clearly define his role as the assessor and, during the testing, he explained his findings to the clubs officials and Groundsman, together with any recommendations that became apparent during his visit.
His first task was to establish some historical information about the ground:
• How long had the club been there? • How many teams/fixtures are played? • Resources available (machinery/staff)?
• What loam are they using? • Age of the square? • End of season renovations?
The club had been using the ground since 1994 and have to share the facility with the school. Between them they are playing close to 100 games of cricket per season, on a square that only has twelve strips and one artificial wicket Geoff ’s next task was to get an overall view of the square and its condition, first impressions say a lot about facilities. If it is well presented, has an even colour and set out correctly it is more likely to score well on the PQS assessment. The first series of tests involved the assessment of the herbage cover on the square, measuring in detail the amount of desirable grasses, bare soil and weed species seen at the time of the visit. This is achieved by using a 100 square quadrant that is placed on the surface to record percentages. This was repeated a number of times to get an average score. Geoff is looking for desirable grasses,
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