Kent CCC has emerged from the cold snap ready for the grounds maintenance programme to begin in earnest, reports Tom James, who meets a head groundsman committed to the cause
The Garden of Cricket ...
M
ost of the snow had been cleared from Kent County Cricket Club’s Canterbury ground when I
arrived. The only signs of the blanket of snow that had descended on this sporting corner of the south-east in early New Year were small mounds heaped up around the boundary. But, perversely, the white covering had simply served to throw up another problem for Head Groundsman, Andy Peirson. Across the practice area in neat, broad columns was the tell-tale evidence of what had lain on the turf just a few days before - snow mould. “The snow creates ideal conditions for it to thrive,” Andy explains. “Temperatures rise under the snow so that the mould can quickly establish itself.”
Andy had been quick to apply suitable fungicide to address the issue, warning me off the turf as I was about to take a closer look.
He had just returned from annual leave, escaping the icy blast of winter to discover that there was little he could do
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while the white stuff covered the green stuff.
But, standing in front of the Colin
Cowdrey stand reminded me of Kent’s glory days and the calibre of player that Kent could boast. The iconic St Lawrence Ground is the home of Kent Cricket, and all eyes and media attention will be on Kent in 2010 as they look to fight for trophies on three fronts: LV=County Championship; the Friends Provident Twenty20 Cup and the ECB 40L. As the club celebrates its return to the top flight, Andy predicts an exciting 2010, “Kent’s young talent coming from the cricket academy with the established pros, Key, Jones, van Jaarsveld, Tredwell and the mix of new signings is really good for us.” Gaining promotion last year, Kent is a club with growing aspirations. With a proposed multi-million pound redevelopment around the corner, the hope is to lift its current category C status up to a category B. The redevelopment will see large-scale, multi-faceted refurbishment once the authorities and parties involved have
“crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s” . The scheme involves part of the ground space being sold off to private developers, who will bring new housing and a luxury hotel to the site. The long term plan for the club being to recognise the need to develop as a facility, but to maintain the traditions that are dear to so many. The £10m project is due for completion over the next two to three years in a phased programme. The housing and hotel building work were planned to begin two years ago but, due to the collapse of the property market and the original investors pulling out, the club were left seeking fresh sources of funding.
No-one is keener for Kent to meet those aspirations than Andy, himself an avid cricket enthusiast. When asked what he views as his key task here, he replies simply: “To present the best possible pitches I can, so that the players and coaches know they can rely on them and trust them.”
Andy paints a straightforward picture, and couched in his reply is a desire to just do the job.
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