It’s one W
In the third and final part of our series, Frank Fielding catches up with Old Trafford’s Head Groundsman, Matthew Merchant, to see how he’s progressing with the key task of turning the square through ninety degrees
58
hilst football groundstaff were compelled to battle against almost unprecedented levels of ice and snow last November and December to keep the fixture list intact, those tending cricket squares over the winter might have been glad of a closed season rest.
In the case of staff at Old Trafford, all daily duties drew to a close following completion of major works to turn the famous square through ninety degrees and create six brand new wickets. It’s not every day that a cricket square - and one as renowned as this Manchester turf - comes in for such a wholesale reworking. Pitchcare caught up with Head Groundsman, Matthew Merchant, last September, just after the last home match of the season, to report on the strategy behind the project - deemed necessary to remedy a thorny issue that had arisen because the afternoon sun constantly hampered batsmen’s vision, particularly late in the season, when top-of-the-table tussles were climaxing, and trophies were
at stake.
As part of a wider multi-million pound transformation at Lancashire County Cricket Club, that has seen significant commitment in new stadia seating, a major retail store and iconic conference centre, turning the square was seen as timely action to address a problem that had been talked about and planned for some time.
The work was completed in late October, under local contractors Bancroft Amenity, who handed back the reins to Matt and his team for them to move forward with.
Whilst winter presents an intensively active season for many sports clubs, for Matt and his team, the cold weather and “typically wet” Manchester microclimate meant follow-up work would have to be put on hold until late January, even early February, when more clement weather allowed them to take stock of what the winter had left them.
Much to Matt’s surprise, it was the rain that had caused the only real problems
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