Summer Sports - Cricket
spotlight, with all its inherent
dissection of the playing surface”
Paul Colman, Keith Exton, Jim Colman ansd Steve Stafford
into the holes. The pitch is then watered to help wash in the loam. “I call it a bottom dressing, as very little loam is left on the surface that, in itself, then causes little or no effects on the mowing or playing programme.” “The results have been very good,”
says Keith. “There’s been a steady improvement in the performance of the pitches since this work began. The bulk density of clay loam in the square has dramatically increased, with the added benefit that I can bring these pitches back into play later on in the season.” There is no doubt that the work undertaken by Keith and his staff has improved the performance of the pitches. However, the underlying problem is still there - years of layering. “The fact is that binding between the original indigenous soil and applied loams was non-existent,” explains Keith. “This created a low energy response from any compaction work undertaken.” “As I saw it, the only way to rectify the
Keith inspecting his soil
problems was to reconstruct the square. Obviously, this cannot be done overnight, so a rolling programme will be required to rebuild a number of the pitches, digging out to a depth of 225mm and replacing with new loam.” It was a Test match at the Rose Bowl in Southampton in June 2011 that changed the mindset of the Glamorgan committee. Nigel Gray’s wicket was declared to be a ‘proper’ Test wicket - a
fair contest between bat and ball - with many of the pundits stating that all Test wickets should be more like it. The Glamorgan committee knew that, if they failed to rectify the problems associated with the square, even though Keith had already made huge improvements, the club may lose out on securing more top fixtures. So, after much deliberation and discussion, Keith finally got the go-ahead to begin reconstruction of the square. Steven Pask was the successful contractor awarded the work, with over twenty-five years experience of working on cricket pitches. “I’ve known Steve for all of those years, watching how things have changed over that period, and what equipment and processes have been upgraded. Now, Steve is considered the number one contractor by many of the county groundsmen for the quality of work that they constantly produce.” Work began on the 26th September 2011. Jim Colman, his brother Paul and Steve Stafford - all with over twenty years experience - were tasked with putting those skills into practice. “Prior to the lads coming on site, a survey of the ground was done to identify any issues that may affect the work,” explained Keith. “Old drains, cables and water points were flagged up, and all the underground cables for the stump cameras were taken up before the contractors moved on to the site.”
“More attention to detail was needed. We were now a ground that was fully in the media
Roadway 84 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012
GPS guided John Deere
The Steve Pask team showed ...
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