Day 1 - early morning preparations
Day 1 - Steve and Sir Ian - “it’s wet over there”
“Many grounds tend to leave all repairs until the end of the season. In my opinion, this is a mistake”
Steve Rouse, Head Groundsman, Warwickshire CCC
the season. In my opinion, this is a mistake. We repair them as we go.
DB: What do your renovations consist of?
Day 3 - Michael Clarke wades off!
SR: We soak the wickets first, if necessary several times. Over the next day we prick the surface to encourage greater penetration of moisture. All foot holes are cleared out and filled to surface levels. Once the treatments have been completed, and the surface scarified, we then apply seed using the Blec uni-seeder. It’s slow, but very effective. Thousands of holes are produced and the seed sits within the little ‘pot plant’ holes.
I have good results using Barenbrug seed. I’ve tried all the others, but their test wicket grass seed mixture suits my soils. To get quick germination and good cover prior to the winter I sow heavily and, if necessary, several overseedings may be made to induce and introduce new strong grasses into my pitches.
Day 3 - reflecting on a bad day
Following seeding a light covering of Ongar loam is given. Only when the seeds have germinated and developed do we apply several heavier dressings. We don’t smother the young seedlings. We pick our weather then dress accordingly. Luting is vitally important, and brushing and matting also helps.
DB: Many smaller clubs find they have a thatch problem within their squares. How’s yours?
workings of the ‘super sopper’ - there’s a clue there somewhere!
14 Day 3 - Sir Ian explains the
SR: No such problem exists here as we constantly control it. However, when I became head groundsman here, the standard of the wickets, at that time, was pretty poor. For
example, a game between England and the West Indies was over in just two and a half days. That is not something that either the ECB or the paying public want to see.
With the help of your good self, we identified two root breaks at differing depths and, by resolving that and experimenting with perennial rye grass mixtures, soon began to see improvements in the wickets.
DB: What is your fertiliser programme?
SR: We apply autumn/winter fertilisers and careful feeds of nitrogen to reduce the ingress of disease as much as possible. We are very prone to disease with the nature of the environment here at Edgbaston. Over winter, we apply iron in an attempt to manage disease attack. A feed of 4:0:4 + 4%Fe, 2%Mg and EarthMate, a humic acid powder blended with nutrition, is also applied. Fungicide is applied to reduce the risk of disease, particularly over Christmas time.
DB: So, when do you start thinking about pre season activity on the square?
SR: We never really stop, but we generally start in earnest in February. However, this year, due to the cold winter, we couldn’t start until early March. we began by firming the square using the small hand mowers, moving up to our Allett 36”. We increase the weight steadily by adding bags of loam to the mower. We do this in every possible direction but always finish each rolling procedure in the line of play.
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