Summer Sports - Cricket
“The fierce westerly winds can leave a blanket of building debris and insulation on the ground; time- consuming hassle for the groundstaff”
debut test match since the square was turned - one of the Ashes series - is also looming large, so Matt is keeping his fingers crossed that rain does not halt play.
An eight to ten week preparation period has been scheduled to ready the wickets for the cameras; the regime is pretty constant though, with a light topdressing and overseeding the order of the day.
The DLF Trifolium iSeed trials, which Matt implemented in 2010 on the practice wickets, have now been rolled out on all new and existing wickets, thanks to some impressive results. The coated seed technology may have suffered a little last year with so much
The ‘makeshift’ lights are testament to Matt’s approach to cost-conscious turfcare
time spent under covers, says Matt, but he is confident that a little sunshine will bring it back to its best.
In fact, such was the impact of the iSeed trials at Emirates Old Trafford that, 250 miles south at Sussex CCC’s county ground at Hove, Head Groundsman, Andy Mackay, has now implemented a programme of his own. The results will be interesting to learn in, what can be, a dustier setting. There may be precious little Matt can do about Manchester’s famously damp climate but, as technology continues to move at an unprecedented pace, weather predictive systems form an increasingly important tool in the groundsman’s arsenal.
Matt certainly believes weather monitoring software has its place: “Rain Today is useful for checking on downpours in the short term,” he says. “It allows us to see when rain is coming and how heavy it is for up to two hours in advance. Technology gives us a useful guide and enables the team to make decisions that we wouldn’t have been able to do just a few years ago.” “If we’re expecting only light rainfall, we can decide whether or not to put on covers - the software offers greater flexibility in decision-making.” Whilst Matt sings the praises of short-term strategies and tools like RainToday, he isn’t convinced of the value of long-term alternatives, insisting that they are still
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