Summer Sports - Cricket
him, went straight to White Hart Lane, dismantled them and brought them up to Trent Bridge - they arrived at 6:30pm. We got them fired up by about 8:00pm, once the rain had stopped, and had them on all night; they worked to a certain extent. This was repeated later that season at Durham under cover of one of Nigel Felton’s stadium McCloud systems and using Sunderland FC’s borrowed lighting rigs.
We then thought this technology could be utilised in an environment to create unnatural conditions, and we are where we are now because that is where it started. We have certainly moved on since 2009.
PC: Clubs want to get practice in earlier and later?
CW: Yeah, and you know what it is like, technology marches on. We have outdoor facilities here at Loughborough that are probably under used. We are unique here because, unlike clubs, we have extensive facilities that are not being utilised as they should be because the players are often away on tours.
PC:What is the extent of this project, what have you actually done?
CW: The aim of this project is to give the Lions squad, the England Performance Programme and the under 19s some outdoor net practice before they go on tour. One party is going to Sri Lanka the others are going to Australia, so here we are, just past Guy Fawkes Night, and able to get full outdoor facilities with a spinning net and a pace net, which they can’t replicate indoors. Having project managed for the past four weeks, it has been hugely successful. We are not 100% there, we still have some issues to solve with guttering and condensation, but we have learned so much and, of course, I couldn’t have done it without the assistance and expertise of Will Relf and his crew and the companies involved.
We now have an ECB Flagship project with set minimum standards that would suffice for an indoor hall. Essentially, it is just an outdoor net with a roof over it, but we have to have set standards as we would for an indoor facility. That means safety nets and curtains, minimum distances, height etc.
The way the net system works, there are no metal support posts. It’s the full 25m length which runs beyond the bowling stump line. That means balls which are angled out won’t interfere across run-ups. There is no metalwork to rebound off. There is a limited area behind the stumps for wicketkeeper training, and we can easily and instantly have a configuration of three individual net bays, or two wide bays, which the players
seem to prefer, or even an individual skill set lane. So we have full flexibility.
PC: How has it gone down with the people who have been using it?
CW: The feedback I’ve had from Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe and other coaches is they are absolutely delighted with it. I haven’t had any negative feedback so far, apart from the condensation. Maybe there’s some boffins out there who might assist.
We are still learning. I am delighted though, it has been a lot of labour, but the companies that have been involved have been really good. We have survived two nasty storms with minimum damage, so you can’t say the big guy upstairs hasn’t thrown everything at us.
PC: What was the budget?
CW: We had many specifications to meet, so we did go slightly over budget, along with the cost of the heating and the development of the bespoke net system, which we now own. The marquee is actually hired over a six week period. That will remain in situ until two weeks after practice when the grass has grown back. The overall cost was probably around £28,000, but the next time we use it, the cost will be much reduced as we already have things like the nets and the transparent panels. So, we will only be paying for the hire of the marquee and the heating system.
PC: Could you see it being rolled out to other clubs?
CW: Certainly, there were five marquees that went out last year, all of which I was monitoring. The feedback from them was excellent and that’s what kick-started this project really. I also know that there are at least three other counties interested, so it could possibly be eight in 2014.
PC: Can you see the lighting rig technology being used as well?
CW: Yes, most certainly. As a heat source and also a way to recover the pitches as well. We are going to utilise the greenhouse effect to get some germination. Then we will oversow in the spring just to support it, and then they will probably be ready by July.
PC: So, this project was running for six weeks?
CW: Yes, it was a six week hire period. My instructions to the groundstaff were to sheet up at the end of the season to ensure that the area didn’t get excessively wet - for a good period of two weeks before the marquee arrived. Then a period of a week under this environment to prepare the surface and finish the drying, utilising the
heaters as well. It’s probably easier to prepare in late autumn than the early spring because the ground temperatures are still higher.
With the temperature variations, it was important that the players were comfortable in the environment. The plan now is to get all the players’ feedback sheets. Was it comfortable, were they happy? That’s where we are at, we are learning all the time.
PC: With regard to match pitches, is it the ECB’s aim to get county pitches all the same standard?
CW: No. Across the world there’s a view that pitches have become ‘samey’ and that they have lost their pace and individual characteristics. When you start covering up pitches and squares, with the technology the groundsmen have today, you are going to have a degree of sameness, but you will never get the same conditions in, say, Durham which is quite unique, compared with Essex.
PC: But you want consistent, safe pitches, don’t you?
CW: Absolutely, that’s the most important thing. The individual quality is down to the county sides and the ability of their groundsmen. Ideally, we would like to have all the county pitches achieving quality ratings (marked by umpires) consistently over 5, but with climatic, fixture and television demands, it is a hard task over the course of a season. Don’t forget, it is also expected now to have lush, green and beautifully striped outfields!
PC: Do you think clubs invest enough in their cricket pitches?
CW: Possibly not, you ask any head groundsman and there is always a wish list. My opinion is that these grounds are now stadiums, they are not just cricket grounds anymore. The international grounds, the investment into that, you want a return. Some of the other county clubs have been struggling a little bit. It costs a lot of money to run a ground or stadium that is only used for six months, and that is where the big corporate facilities come into it, like the big hotels and concerts etc. We are actually pushing the boundaries now and getting use out of everywhere.
PC: Do you think there is room for improvement at grassroots level?
CW: There is always room for improvement. We now have technology that we have never had before. I would say the problem we have now is the workforce. When I was in club cricket, I was fully employed. I had a house and a wage; they really looked after me. I was happy there and I could really
The three bay net system was installed by AT Bone to ECB specifications. These protected the walls of the marquee
Mark Ramprakash overseeing batting coaching - three bays, but the batsmen preferred two larger ones
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014 PC 39
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