“We are now receiving positive
changed to Ongar, and a more considered approach was given to the work method.
The new pitches were excavated, using
comments from the coaches and players, so it’s not only good news for them but also for the groundstaff”
a Koro, to a depth of 4” and refilled with the new material, consolidating as they were refilled. “These new wickets tended to outperform the old Kaloam strips,” says Nick, “but I wanted to carry out further trials to see if any other loam might suit our requirements even better.” “So, after much deliberation and some other trials using Boughton County Loam (motty and half motty tests were carried out on both loams), the results indicated to me that the County loam would suit the needs of the school.” “We took the decision to reconstruct a number of wickets over time - four a year - until they were all completed. We chose
alternate wickets so that there was minimum impact on the use of the square the following seasons.” The wicket replacement method
reflected a considered approach to achieving consistent depth. “After the use of a turf iron around the edge of the wicket to achieve a clean cut, a rotavator, set to a depth of 2”, was used in two passes. The old loam was removed, making sure that the excavation remained an even depth, and taken away in small loads on trailers fitted with flotation tyres. Plywood boards protected adjacent wickets. The base of the excavations were spiked, and the first layer refilled with Boughton County Loam and then spiked again.” “This was to ameliorate the base layers of old loam with the new,” says Nick, “so
Sports Ground Contractors Ltd
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