Summer Sports - Cricket
Nigel in his early days at Northland’s Road
“Sometimes, you just know when a pitch is going to play well, it felt flat and hard”
• Allett C-Range mowing and turf maintenance system.
• Uses quickly-
interchangeable cartridge heads, purpose-designed for each turf
maintenance task.
• Available in working widths of 510mm (20in), 610mm (24in) and 864mm (34in) to suit turf surfaces from bowling greens and croquet lawns to cricket squares and football stadiums.
• Cartridge heads available for mowing, scarifying, verti-cutting, slitting, sorrel rolling and brushing.
With Shane Warne and Simon Katich at the launch of his testimonial year
but the first ODI - South Africa v Zimbabwe in 2003 - was a steep learning curve. I may have left it grassier than I should have done,” he says.
His attention to detail culminated in the success of the inaugural Test match, between England and Sri Lanka last June. He was lauded by all and sundry for the quality of the surface, as well as his team’s efforts during the rain-affected match. It was, without question, the highlight of his career so far.
“I knew it was going to be a good pitch, it felt right from the start,” he smiles. “Sometimes, you just know when a pitch is going to play well, it felt flat and hard. But it would have been nice to have had five
days’ play!” The Test pitch is one of nine out of twenty on the main square that includes more sand in its loam than the others (a successful formula happened upon as part of an ECB experiment). There have still been anomalies, with the pitch used for Lancashire’s visit a decade ago not the only one to cost Hampshire points.
The county began last season’s T20 competition with minus two points because of a mischievous wicket - demonstrating excessive unevenness - used for a televised Twenty20 group game against Somerset in 2010. “That was a one-off, something went wrong in the preparation and, to this day, I
C-Range MACHINES FOR ALL SPORTS SURFACES
Demonstrations with pleasure on a turf surface near you
Allett Mowers, Hangar 5, New Road, Hixon, Staffordshire ST18 0PJ, UK Tel: 01889 271503 •
sales@allett.co.uk •
www.allett.co.uk NB: 8-blade cutting unit for C-34 not shown 6-blade cylinder 58 PC JUNE/JULY 2012 10-blade cylinder 10-blade with groomer Brush Scarifier Slitter Sorrell Roller Verticutter
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148