Schools & Colleges
Brian says. Mostly, when it is played locally, it is at the Armitage Centre next door, on synthetic turf managed by the University of Manchester.
The sound of willow on leather (or the modern-day equivalents) is the focal sporting pursuit here, spearheaded by Master of Cricket for twenty years, David Moss, and new Director of Cricket - Mark Chilton - a former Sportsman of the Year when he studied here - who was appointed in January, following his retirement from County Cricket with Lancashire.
”A lot of things may change to accommodate cricket,” predicts Brian without further ado. From that remark, I sense that Mark Chilton could prove the catalyst for major initiatives. Not that matters haven’t moved on apace already. “We used to have a cricket week in June, now it’s a fortnight,” explains Brian. “It’s extra work for the turfcare team, on top of the fact that so much effort is channelled into delivering cricket playing surfaces utilised for less than a quarter of the year. ”Exams have finished and everybody is expected to take part in an activity - sporting or otherwise.”
Despite that emphasis, rugby union is fast gaining ground, I gather. Current student, Marcus Webber, is a current England U18 international and MGS was named Best Venue for Rugby Teams 2011 at a meeting of schools in the region in January. “Justification that what we’re doing here is good,” insists Brian. The change of training and coaching practices at the school has led to still greater achievements on the pitch, which means the role of Brian and his team is an ever more pressured one, given the mounting expectation for excellence from staff and players alike. But, some of that is self-administered. “You put pressure on yourself to put things right if anything goes wrong,” says Brian candidly.
A healthy budget also always helps if
groundstaff are to invest in quality machinery and trial new materials, so Brian is fortunate that he has “an ample annual sum” to play with. MGS boasts a strong fleet of machinery, capable of meeting the high standards expected by the school. Two John Deere tractors - a 4720 and 4410, two Trimax ProCuts, a Charterhouse Verti-Drain, SISIS spiker, tipping trailer, two Toro Workmen, a Clubman, Dennis 36”, Dennis 24” diesel, two John Deere rotary mowers and three Flymo hover mowers - “used to trim the cricket square when it’s too soft to walk on” - and a pedestrian Blotter which, no doubt, comes into its own more often than Brian would prefer - this is Manchester, and rain is obligatory!
Whilst Brian has a mix of brands in his shed, he’s not shy to divulge his favourites. “We like John Deere here,” he volunteers. “They produce some of the finest machines you’d want. For me, their 4720 is the best tractor on the market for fuel efficiency, manoeuvrability, visibility
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and layout in the cab.” “Deere’s aftersales service is also very good. We had an arm break on one of the tractors one Monday morning - by the Wednesday, the linkage was fixed and we were up and running again. This is exactly the fast turnaround you need when your machines are used every day.” We walked out from the school buildings, across the turf, towards the site of all the excitement - the first team cricket square. Wind and rain was the order of the day, but with clear signs underfoot that the temperature had plummeted recently; the tell-tale yellow patches betraying the fact that the pitches had been in the grip of ice and snow.
”The ground’s soft and spongy after the cold snap,” Brian says, reading my thoughts. “We Pro cut it with front and back rollers attached to bed it down again.”
Brian Minshall
when playing on a pile of mud or sheet of ice”
development to be had
“A cancelled game is the low point of my year, but there’s no skills
Despite only occupying ten to twelve weeks of the year, cricket definitely stirs the passions at MGS. With an impressive alumnus of former cricketing students, such as Michael Atherton, John Crawley and the aforementioned Mark Chilton, MGS clearly knows how to nurture talent. The school has pushed the boundaries of the sport further still as it set out, last summer, to become unique in its field, ploughing in major money to create two new Test standard wickets, to make MGS the first educational establishment to possess any of this quality. The development has been brought into sharper focus over the last twelve months with the aid of a prominent grounds professional who has imparted valuable advice and knowledge to the projects, Brian tells me. The original cricket squares had been on site when the school moved from central Manchester to Old Hall Lane in 1930. Over the last decade, both the first team and intermediate squares have gradually been replaced, the turfcare team completing five pitches a year over two five-year periods under Brian’s management.
But, the school was eager to progress again, and opening day of the 2012 season will mark the fulfilment of the most ambitious of the renovation work, as three, first team, test standard, wickets come into play - the culmination of a team-up between Brian and Peter Marron, Lancashire County Cricket Club’s former head groundsman, who now works as a consultant. David Moss, who had managed Lancashire’s U16 to U19 sides, knew Peter, and asked him if he could help. “Peter saw us through the process,” Brain recalls. “It was great experience for all of us to work alongside such a cricketing legend, and to be given some invaluable input into what was required to make the wickets Test standard,” he enthuses. “But, he kept his cards close to his chest about some aspects of exactly how he went about creating them to that level.”
Each of the three wickets (two on the
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