Summer Sports - Cricket
centre of Mumbles village,” he explained. “In the early 1970s, the decision was taken to look for land where the cricket club could base itself with its own ground, pavilion and machinery.”
The committee at the time did not have to look too far, as one of the members knew a farmer who was renting locally a suitable area of land from the Duke of Beaufort. Located on the stunning Gower coast, a mile or so from the club’s existing pitch, the field was purchased in 1975 from the Duke who attended the first official game played in 1979 at the Marespool Ground against the MCC. The time between purchase and opening was spent levelling the ground, building the square and constructing a pavilion for, what proved to be, a successful first season playing in the South Wales Cricket Association League.
One of the club’s members who played at the new ground in its first season was John Blyth who, in addition to his groundsman’s responsibilities today, is also honorary secretary of Mumbles Cricket Club.
So how did John become involved in cricket pitch maintenance? “I started volunteering at the club about fifteen years ago,” he explained. “The head groundsman at the time, Geoff Thomas, was looking for helpers and I put my
hand up. One of the first things I did was attend a basic cricket groundsmen’s course in Cardiff presented by Len Smith, who was head groundsman at Glamorgan County Cricket Club at the time.” “That provided a very sound
grounding, and I’ve been learning more and more about the skills involved ever since, primarily from Geoff, but also from suppliers’ representatives, magazines and online resources such as Pitchcare.” A former Swansea City
professional footballer, Geoff Thomas, started playing cricket for Mumbles at around the same time as John Blyth. His keen interest in grounds maintenance led to his appointment as the club’s head groundsman shortly after his retirement from football, a position he held until last autumn when illness forced him to hand over responsibilities to John. Fortunately, Geoff and John had
previously encouraged two other club members to help out with grounds maintenance and pitch preparation to meet the demand from a burgeoning membership and the growing number of teams requiring wickets on which to play. “I have a part-time job which enables me to be at the ground every day of the week from around 9.00am onwards, and earlier on match days,” commented John. “Helping out increasingly
Allan Baglow guides the roller over a wicket being prepared for a 1st team match the next day. In the background, John Blyth takes the first cut on a wicket to be used for a game midweek
Root break in your square?
Thatchy, spongy surfaces? Shallow, weak rooting? Inconsistent bounce? Layered and fractured loams?
Overcome all these problems by using the approved Drill n Fill and Deep Drill 60/18 aerators available from Ecosol Turfcare
From county ground to village green, we have the specialist equipment and knowledge to provide the solution to your particular problem.
Ecosolve Ltd Armyn Cross, Malmesbury, Wilts SN16 9RJ Tel: 01666 861250 email:
info@ecosolve.co.uk www.ecosolve.co.uk
70 PC JUNE/JULY 2012
Call us today to fi nd out more about our contract aeration, scarifi cation, Koro, laser grading and outfi eld services
01666 861250
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