would ease the workload and reduce the strain on just the one machine,” Andy adds.
Despite the antiquity of some machines, he remains happy with what he’d inherited. “Different groundsmen have different techniques and ways of doing things. You can’t expect that you’ll always inherit something that’s just to your liking and that requires no improvements.” While Kent look towards the near
future, with a view to rival the league leaders, the county’s strong and vibrant academy and women’s teams are thriving, thanks to structured investment in cricket. The Kent Cricket Board, located on the Canterbury site, runs youth teams ranging from under-9s to under-17s, the latter a side that took the national league title for their age group last year.
Kent’s women cricketers are also enjoying national success, retaining the championship title last year for the third successive year. Regulars include Lydia Greenaway and Charlotte Edwards, the latter being the captain of both Kent and England.
Andy is a strong advocate of the importance of developing the cricket ‘buzz’ at community level, as well as at the professional level. As a member of the ECB’s pitch advisory team, one of only three on the board in Kent, Andy has the opportunity to pass on some of his knowledge by working with local club groundsmen, giving them an insight into some of the techniques and practices used at a professional facility.
He is also active locally with cricket in
Beckenham, after witnessing it go from strength to strength in recent years,
thanks to programmes pushed by local enthusiasts to promote community cricket and help redevelop old disused grounds.
The aptly named Phoenix group works
to source grounds, once actively used, and to restore them to a level suitable for community cricket. “Cricket is growing strongly in popularity among younger generations now, so its crucial for me to be active with schemes like this to raise awareness about careers in the sport and in groundsmanship, which often gets a bad reputation in the media with the stereotype of the job being that we ‘just cut grass’.” “There’s a serious lack of younger people coming into the job and a danger that, unless there’s more of a focus, it will continue to be dominated by the older generation.”
The C-Range
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www.allett.co.uk
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Puncture-Proof-Tyres.co.uk, Unit 1, Barons Court Gardens, Newhouse Lane, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B61 9ET
77
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