VERN HEAVEN!
look at the square. His core samples showed that there was a layer of thatch and a root break one inch down. I spent the whole of that winter spiking the square, with a spiker I borrowed from a local club. I went on all the groundsmanship courses and joined the Worcestershire Association of Groundsmen (WAG). Roy chaired these meetings and we all found his extensive knowledge invaluable. Even though my square has improved I still keep asking questions and learning things at the WAG meetings.
As I got older I took on the treasurer’s
role at the club. Their policy is that they trust my judgement and, if money has to be spent to keep the ground in good order, the money is there. As I repair and maintain the equipment, I usually source used machines and overhaul them, so that the cost is kept down to a minimum. On the main square we have thirteen senior strips and one junior. We also
have a new netting area with two strips and a new artificial playing strip. I had planned to extend the square by two strips at the end of last season but the weather, and a let down on delivery of loam, got in the way. The weather also got in the way of a number of our fixtures so, this winter, I built some roll on roll off covers.
When I took over the head
groundsman’s job, I set myself five years to try and get the square playing with true bounce and the top to stay together. By asking questions of other
groundsman, reading magazine and website articles I think I have achieved this. My plans now are to keep improving the ground.
Our end of season renovations used to
be carried out by Dennis Jones of Kidderminster Cricket Club, a local stalwart who helped out many local clubs. Since he sadly passed away I have, for the past five years, been doing the job
myself.
I used to borrow a SISIS Hydromain and seeder from Tom Langford at Ombersly Cricket Club and, in return, he would borrow my SISIS Scarifier. Tom has now retired and moved away so I have now bought a seeder and small tractor.
I cut the grass down, scarify the square in several directions, using the Graden off of the ECB trailer, and brush and clean using our SISIS Rotorake fitted with brushes. The square is then watered, overseeded with Avoncrop ryegrass mixture (three passes) and topdressed with Banbury loam (3-4 bags a strip). All materials are bought in bulk through WAG to keep costs down. The square is protected through the winter months with a temporary fence. It is spiked three - four times between November and January using a solid tine vertical punch aerator along with an
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