“They have done some silly things with the covers, such as covering the artificial pitch overnight rather than the cut grass one”
Alan Hamilton, Head Groundsman, Guernsey Cricket Board
bringing someone over in a groundsman role, he suggested me. Dave Nussbaumer, the then GCA chairman, got in contact and that is, basically, how I came to be here. Initially, it was on a part-time basis and I used to travel backwards and forwards, but it has evolved into a full-time role because that is what was needed - what you do in the winter is just as important as what you do in the spring and summer.
The set-up in Guernsey is quite unique compared to any other groundsman’s job I know. We have got our weekend cricket as well as some tour games during the week, but we have also got our night games every evening. That is very restrictive on your work.
Every night you have possibly got someone traipsing all over your square while they play on the artificial pitch, and yet we play between 60 and 70 fixtures on grass at the KGV during the summer.
At county grounds, every night they can put covers on their square - from
March onwards they control every drop of water that goes on it. We cannot do that here. We have a problem with watering, in that we have to do it in the early hours of the morning so that it is ready for evening games to be played, this limits the
amount of water we can put on the square at any one time. There have been some fun and games with those evening matches, when we ask the players to place the covers after they have finished. They are not always Guernsey’s elite cricketers, so to speak. Very often they will be lower division
The hut!
guys who simply want to enjoy a social game in the evening - and they have done some silly things with the covers, such as covering the artificial pitch overnight rather than the cut grass one! While it makes it difficult, though, it does not make it impossible. You have to
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