Steve Rouse’s preparations for the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston were plagued by bad weather, resulting in delayed starts, abandoned play, sleepless nights and strange smells!


Prior to the match David H Bates asked Steve about his preparations. But first, an overview ...


Day 1 - mopping up operations continue


BLOTTER -on S


teve Rouse must hate Pitchcare. The last time the Edgbaston Head Groundsman appeared in the pages of our magazine, some three years ago, he was interviewed by our editor, Laurence Gale. So heavy was the rain on the day of his visit that Steve joked (at least, we think it was a joke) that he “never wanted to see that bloody Laurence again - just keep him away!” So, we thought we’d try a different tack this time, and ask his agronomist consultant, David H Bates, to ‘do a story’ on his preparation for the third Ashes Test.


Cue torrential rain. In the two days prior to the Test match there was hardly a break in the clouds. The preceding week had also been pretty wet, so Steve’s usual wicket preparation was severely hampered.


On the eve of the game, a report from


the ground, by one of the Sky TV commentators, whimsically called ‘the state of play’, showed excessive flooding on the outfield, with Steve and his team in the background busily trying to


14


remove water, even as more fell. It was to be a thankless task, and one that, ultimately, failed to allow a scheduled start to the game on Thursday. Steve, and a team of seventeen, had


worked through the night and, as the 11.00am start time approached, with further showers scurrying across the ground, it became clear that much of the good work had been undone. In front of the TV cameras Steve is very personable and confident, but there is only so much “we are doing all we can” that an impatient crowd will take. When the sun came out and ‘further inspection’ times ate into the day’s play, the assembled Barmies, Mexicans, Elvis’s et al, started booing. It was a natural, if somewhat unfair, reaction from a crowd who had parted with the best part of £100 to see a day’s Ashes cricket and were, apparently, being denied by the over cautiousness of match officials. Of course, they weren’t to know how high the water table was - Steve described it as pouring water onto a soaking sponge - or how much rain had


fallen the day before and overnight. They wanted to see cricket. And, as the sun stayed out and the mopping up continued, each umpires’ inspection was greeted with ever louder boos. However, it was clear, from the umpires stabbing the turf with umbrellas and Sir Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham bringing up water when he pressed his foot into the grass, that certain sections of the outfield, and the bowlers run-ups, were simply not safe for cricket. The wicket, under Edgabston’s new hover cover and pull out sheets “would be fine” according to Steve. Eventually, it was agreed that play would begin at 5.00pm with Beefy commentating “if it’s fit at five then it was fit at three, I see no difference”. He was clearly miffed, and stated that play probably should have been abandoned for the day, simply because the outfield was dangerous adding, somewhat cynically, that “ticket revenue seems to be the criteria for getting play underway”. When play eventually began, England’s bowlers were as damp as the outfield.


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  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138