Schools & Colleges
first team square, one on the intermediate) cost more than £3,000 to prepare, with works starting last summer. Both were dug out to a 12in depth, stoned up to four inches, with 25mm to dust rolled in. The sides were shuttered with wood, spirit-levelled when an inch above the top, then five inches of Gostd loam from Surrey Loams Ltd were laid, before being screeded off to achieve a level surface, about an inch above ground level. Finally, the two new strips were seeded with Johnsons Ji Premier Wicket - a seed blend Brian had decided to trial following visits to the freshly renovated Old Trafford surface, where head groundsman, Matt Merchant, had turned the square 90O and sown a Johnsons iSeed mix after first trialling it in the practice nets.
“Matt’s success is well documented up here, mainly because he’d found a seed that gives good year-round growth in Manchester’s famed wet climate,” Brian explains. “We decided to go with it, and I’m glad we did, as the results have justified our faith in it.”
“In the past, we couldn’t get any germination with certain mixes, but the iSeed really took off - we had to cut it six times with the Flymos before Christmas, after only sowing in October - the growth was unbelievable!” Coated seed has come in for heavy criticism over the years, notably among sceptics who see the use of an outer shell of pre-applied fertiliser as simply a more costly alternative to standard product. However, successful
trialing bolsters the argument for wider adoption across the sectors. “There was no real science involved with my
application,” Brian admits. “I threw on as much as I would with any other seed. Since October, though, growth has been tenfold and we haven’t needed to feed it at all yet, like you might expect with standard seed to get good germination.” He adds: “Within three or four days we had growth and, four months on, I’ll only now be applying the Sierrablend fertiliser. We couldn’t have asked much more from a new seed, and we hope to continue using it, especially as the focus on cricket will increase as the school plans to replace a further eight wickets in the coming years.” As my visit draws to a close, Brian reveals that the school’s next five-year plan is already underway, with its vision to further develop cricket (no surprise there then) by adding more strips to the new Test standard wickets laid last summer. With a new cricket season looming, Brian has his work cut out for a sporting season characterised by souls yearning to move the bar of achievement a notch or two higher still. After almost five centuries, The Manchester Grammar School is still building its business and looking forwards. We pass an extremely fetching alpine cabin-style building, still sporting a fresh, clean, light wooden appearance before weathering imparts the ‘silvering’ that characterises
SPORTSGROUND SPECIALISTS
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www.mjabbott.co.uk
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 PC 93
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