“Just because one particular mix of rye grass cultivars worked for you ten years ago, doesn’t mean that other superior blends haven’t been developed in the meantime”
From your PQS findings, or your own investigations, you will now have a very good idea of the make up of your cricket square. Even if you don’t choose to go down this particular root, and trust the evidence of your own eyes, you know the issues you need to address:
• Poor grass coverage - Clearly a ‘Chicken and Egg’ situation here. If we find that our grass cover is unsatisfactory, then this is a sympton created by a cause. So, what has caused it? Identify the issue(s) and then address them
• Incomplete repairs to ends • Poor germination • Incorrect grass seed used • Insufficient feeding of the sward • Disease/unsatisfactory disease control
Hopefully, you won’t have all of these, in fact you may not have any but, if you are aware of the issues, then you can address them by improving your sward management.
Just because one particular mix of rye grass cultivars worked for you ten years ago, doesn’t mean that other superior
blends haven’t been developed in the meantime - look into them, try them if you get the opportunity and keep an open mind.
Let’s look in more detail - Pests and Diseases
Yes, it’s self explanatory, but experience is a great teacher and, sometimes, by suffering the slings and arrows of various pests and diseases, whilst not particularly palatable, can give you the knowledge to cope with them and try to avoid them in the future. Use a negative as a positive, and learn from the experience and vow to avoid it happening again in the future.
Profile
Possibly the most important aspect for the cricket grounds manager. Whatever is going on below the surface almost always dictates what goes on at surface level - that’s a truism you come to appreciate in the world of cricket. Root depth is clearly an indication of the health of your grass plants, and a guide to their strength as well. Shallow rooted Poa annua (annual meadow grass) will not withstand the rigours of cricket’s
“By saving a tenner on grass seed, how much extra expense will you be creating by having to do extra hours of work on the square?”
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harsh preparation regime, but it’s an ever present in all but the very best profiles and, of course, can be blown in from anywhere.
So, while it’s not unavoidable, it can be managed during the season and removed at the season’s end through vigorous scarification, or even more extreme actions such as treatment with a total herbicide and reseeding of the area. Even then, Poa annua will somehow find its way in, possibly carried in by unwelcome breezes or sitting as a seed bank deep in your profile - it’s the real Millwall of grass species, no one likes it, but it doesn’t care!
Thatch
Our next bug bear is possibly the most influential aspect in any cricket profile, and that is the issue of thatch. We are all likely to get it to a greater or lesser extent as invasive species, such as our friend AMG Millwall, will inevitably get in there somewhere and create some thatch. Clippings will go astray and cause some more. Whatever is causing it, we need to address it! Scarification can be carried out in
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