Summer Sports - Cricket
“It takes a lot of experience to know when and how much irrigation is needed. Even experienced groundsmen get it wrong sometimes!”
Dateline 27 July 2013
I am sitting on board the Stena Britannica heading for Holland once again. The purpose of my visit this time is to work with the groundsmen at Voorburg Cricket Club for the next two weeks, helping them to prepare the pitches for the U-19 World Cup qualifying games to be played at the venue. Cricket has been played on the new
square since late spring 2010 and a one day international was played late in the season of that year. The pitch was not the best for an international game, but was reasonable. This was expected because it was still a new square and the groundsmen were still in the process of learning how to prepare a suitable pitch. The square construction was different to all others in Holland because it was designed for stability on an unstable subsoil. This has proved to be successful as there there has been no sinking of the square.
One problem I have encountered on my trips to Holland has been the lack of water in the profile when the weather is dry (although this was not the case last year, but the geese were happy). It is one of the most difficult things to get the water into the profile to depth, and judgement of this takes a lot of experience from the groundsman to know when and how much irrigation is needed. Even experienced groundsmen get it wrong sometimes! I have often been asked how much
water do I need to put on. Or, how long do I need to water this pitch and, quite simply, I cannot tell them. Irrigation depends on the weather conditions, e.g. has there been any rain, is it hot and windy, is there high humidity, is it cold and overcast, or any combination of these factors?
Other considerations are what the soil particle distribution is and what percentage of clay there is in the soil. What is the sand and silt percentages as this will affect the way the soil drains and, finally, is there any thatch present because this will affect the way the water can enter the profile? If there is a high clay content, e.g. 36%, how compacted is the soil, as this will take longer to dry out to a suitable moisture content for cricket and it will take longer to get the water to depth? How many groundsmen know what the soil particle distribution is or have had an analysis of the soil done? This information is always obtained for PQS (Performance Quality Standards) assessments and is invaluable in helping to make an informed assessment. It is always difficult to assess water content in the soil but, by taking a small core sample, it is possible to see how much moisture there is and to what depth. This can help when deciding on watering and how much to use. I recently carried out an assessment and the core was exceptionally dry to the full depth of the sample. This would cause the pitch to play unevenly and
would not give an even contest between bat and ball. This type of surface would also be difficult to get water into, to get it to hold together. I have just looked through the window and the Dutch coastline is getting closer, so it will soon be time to leave the ship and drive to Vlaardigen where I shall be staying during my two weeks in Holland, and I shall continue with this article over the next two weeks.
Sunday July 28th and onwards
The weather is hot and sunny. I have arrived at the Voorburg Cricket ground to watch a local derby match between VCC and VOC (Rotterdam). I have taken a look at the three pitches that are going to be used for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifying games (five in total) and have taken core samples to help me assess what would be required to get the pitches to the required standard for international matches. It must be pointed out that the pitch preparation had started the week before I arrived by the groundsman, Willem Ligtenstein, and his team. The cores showed a good root structure, no thatch present and no soil breaks. A soil particle distribution analysis had been carried out at the end of 2012 season showing clay levels at 36%, sand at 30% and silt at 34%. With clay content of 36% it would be possible to achieve a high standard surface, but it could prove difficult to manage without good covers during wetter, cooler periods of the summer. This is because of the
Names required l-r
Voorburg cricket ground OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 PC 87
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