“Whatever is going on below the surface almost always dictates what goes on at surface level”
David Goodjohn, Green Infrastructure I
t’s September, and the end of another long hard cricket season is drawing near. The last pitch has been prepared and rolling can become a distant memory until next spring. It’s been such a long demanding year and now we are all dreading the ‘R’ word ...
What has been bugging the country all
through 2010, what single thing is foremost in all cricket groundsmen’s minds as they near the end of another season of hard slog? The ‘R’ word, that’s what ...
What are we talking about? Recession? No, we mean Renovation! Looking after a cricket square is a many splendoured occupation for the ‘recreational’ groundsman. Yes, it’s okay for the ‘big boys’ to open their sheds to reveal a vast range of gleaming machinery, all ready to do the many tasks required to keep their squares in tip top shape, but what about the after work and spare time brigade working on a wing and a prayer with equipment kept together by a rubber band and various cable ties? There is a tried and tested menu of essentials for end of season club cricket renovations - scarification, overseeding, topdressing and fertilising. However, do these narrow parameters
address all of the issues satisfactorily? They are many and can be classified in the following categories:
• Poor levels • Bare areas • Thatch • Compaction • Weeds • Worms • Saddles/ raised ends • Poor fertility • Layering
Quite a daunting variety, I’m sure you’ll agree. With financial pressure and restraints coming from all quarters, what are the consequences of ‘ignoring’ end of season renovations?
As with all good campaigns, we need to set out with an accurate ‘roadmap’ in order to plot our path to addressing all of the issues. So, how can we define our starting point?
Each and every cricket square is
David Goodjohn of Green Infrastructure explains
different, so an audit needs to be made by every individual club and groundsman around the country. If it is not possible for the club in question to make a
sufficiently detailed assessment, then help is always at hand in the form of the various County Boards. The County Pitch Inspector can be commissioned to complete a PQS (Performance Quality Standards) test at the club and produce a detailed report on what is necessary to address the issues from which that particular club suffers.
The ECB and the IOG have combined to implement this form of testing across the Premier Leagues in the country, and their findings and benefits are already being enjoyed in several counties. However, not every club is in the position to be able to invest in the cost of PQS testing, so how can the grounds manager carry out his or her own assessment?
Let’s look at the areas we need to
assess: Herbage
This is broken down into length of herbage, bare areas (total area and diameter of any individual bare area), total ground cover, grass species, both desirable and non-desirable, weeds (whether large or small leaved), moss algae and lichen.
Quite a list then, but all quantifiable by
the keen amateur, given enough time. Pests and Diseases
Fairly self explanatory, covering diseases, earthworms and pests. Again, achievable for the keen amateur with a keen eye and access to internet search engines.
Profile
If you have a core sampler, then use it to take cores and assess how your profile is made up. If you don’t have one, then get one immediately - it is the most essential part of the cricket ground manager’s arsenal outside of his regular preparation equipment. We need to assess root depth, depth of thatch (if there is any present), depth of appropriate medium in the rootzone (i.e. how much genuine clay loam you have), rootzone particles/ clay content and soil strength.
Again, the majority of these are visual. Clearly, an assessment of clay content and soil strength is only achievable accurately via a laboratory test, but the method of Motty testing can be done in house and give you a very strong idea of the quality, or otherwise, of your medium.
So, now we have all of the relevant information to hand, what is the next step?
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