ECB Cricket Pitch Advisor, Gordon Gill, gives us his take on repairing bowler footmarks and damage to the crease, whilst Mark Jolliffe, Head Groundsman at Taunton School, provides a pictorial explanation of the three methods he uses to cope with the various situations he encounters during the season
Cricket Wicket Repair
There are several types of bowler foot mark/hole/crease damage that will need attention/repair during a normal cricket season. Should a bowler dig a hole deep enough that it requires attention during a game, the following method is the one that I use. First, sweep all rubbish out of the hole. Second, just dampen the bottom and sides of the hole with water, and I mean just dampen. Thirdly, fill the hole with damp loam, fill it as high as it is deep. Fourthly, gently firm the soil with your foot,
starting around the edge and finally on the top. Next, lay an old plastic loam bag on the repair and, using what I call a thumper, thump down on the repair several times until the repair is level with the surrounding area. Brush some dry dust from the area over the repair and remark the crease. Very often, players will not even realise that a repair has been carried out. This repair will very often be carried out during a lunch or tea interval as well as at the end or beginning of a day’s play.
There are, however, one or two very important points to remember when carrying out this repair. Never make the hole too wet. You should not have any standing water in the bottom of the hole. Even more important, do not have your loam to wet. To get your loam to the right
consistency will take a little practice, but the secret is to only add a very small amount of water to your dry loam as you mix it. Take a bucket and put in two or three good handfuls of dry loam. Apply a splash of water and thoroughly mix/knead using your hands. Keep doing this until the loam in your bucket still looks dry, but that when you squeeze a handful in the palm of your hand it just stays together and does not fall apart.
When filling the hole, you must put enough soil in and heap it to the right level. If, after thumping, the level of the soil goes below the level of the surrounding area, that is where it will have to stay. You cannot successfully top that repair up and level it off. The soil will more than likely separate at the join. If you fill the hole and there is
standing water in the bottom, that water will rise through the soil to the top during thumping, leaving you with a
wet pudding that will not dry and will be a danger to any bowler who stands on it. A different technique is used when a wicket has been taken out of play. In this situation I carry out the following. Brush all rubbish from holes and the area to be repaired. Fill the holes with water and allow to soak away. It may be the next day before you can continue with the repair but, once the water has gone, get a fork and fork deeply into the holes giving the fork a good wiggle back and forth. If you have a very wide deep hole, you may have to carry this out several times. This will create big holes and bring the base of the hole nearer to the surface. You can then pour dry loam down the holes. Fill to about surface level and firm with your foot. Using a rake, then loosen the surface of the soil, apply a generous helping of seed, at least one handful per sq.yd. and, finally, apply
To get your loam to the right consistency will take a little practice, but the secret is to only add a very small amount of water to your dry loam as you mix it.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108