problematic. You might agree a strategy with the current chairman one year, then they’re gone the next and the new chairman may well have other priorities,” he continues. “The chairman can be drawn from any section of the club, so their knowledge will be confined largely to one particular sport,” he adds. “That can make it difficult to secure the right level of investment across all the provision.” Middlesex utilises three outgrounds - Richmond Old


Deer Park, Southgate and Uxbridge. The county’s first choice, currently, is Vic’s domain, sometimes used intensively during the season, and to a level dictated by how many days the county side can play at Lord’s, which now, more than ever, plays host to a gruelling calendar of club, test and one-day cricket. In 2008, Middlesex returned to Uxbridge after


around a twelve year absence, during which they played most of their games at Southgate. This return saw Uxbridge host no fewer than twenty-eight days of cricket in that season. Last year saw twenty-two days of action. This year, only six days are in the calendar - two Twenty20 matches (the first, against Hampshire, was played on the day I visited Vic) and a four-day game later in the month that, together, constitute the Uxbridge Festival. The two cricket squares, one of thirteen strips, the other ten, come in for a fair old battering - being used every day of the week for either club or amateur level


“Preparing the finest surfaces for county play can be a real challenge, yet still be a real thrill”


Vic Demain, Head Groundsman, Uxbridge Cricket Club


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