Summer Sports - Cricket
experiment. For example, in Hertfordshire, I can count the number of full-time employed groundsmen on one hand.
PC: Do you think that is a worry for the future - the possible demise of volunteer groundsmen?
CW: Volunteers are very important but, with today’s lifestyle, people come out of the office, finish work, have to contend with rush hour - which seems more like three hours - then go to the ground and then go home. Some of them might have to sit on committees as well, and I am not certain the youngsters of today have got that will.
You seem to have the same characters sitting on the committees, but they just seem to be getting older. I think it is symptomatic of today’s modern life.
Every village used to have a cricket club, certainly in my native Yorkshire anyway, and the local villages would play derbies, and volunteers weren’t a problem. Now, especially where grounds are corporate, if they are owned by local authorities, the standard is dropping because it is a fly in the ointment for them, to be honest, because of the safety aspect and remuneration. Let’s face it, if you are a groundsman in this day and age, you are not going to be rich.
PC: It’s not all about that though, is it?
CW: No, it’s not all about that. I think clubs are placing higher demands on their facilities because they watch the TV and expect their pitches to look like the county grounds, so there is a lot of pressure. But, if they don’t have the equipment budget or expertise, it’s hard to achieve.
They can do a lot to improve it though by utilising the ECB Pitch Advisers. Probably
80% of my time now is at England international level, but I still have an overview. We have a brilliant regional overview system.
PC: There are nine new posts coming in, when will they take effect?
CW: I’m not certain. I know the interviews are currently taking place but, as we are working, at last, with the other sporting organisations - the RFU, the RFL and the FA - we have to combine and that has taken years to do. They will be multi-sport advisers now, because they are being funded by other sporting organisations.
PC:Won’t that dilute cricket?
CW: You can speak to most of our present County Advisers at the moment and they say that they haven’t got enough time because they have their main jobs as well. So, hopefully it won’t, but it is something that we will have to wait to find out. There is no excuse today really as we have all the contemporary technical knowledge to pass on.
One of the biggest innovations is the internet. We have the technology, we have the will and we have the resources. What we haven’t got, possibly, is the workforce to act upon the advice.
PC: When might we see the results of the Cranfield aeration project?
CW: The problem has been the format. The technical data behind it is enormous. The person producing it, Dr. Ian James, is tasked with the way it is being presented. Maybe a split document - one with the technical detail and one more simplistic version “for the man in the field” - but we have to get right before it goes out.
PC: So what are the outcomes for you?
CW: For me, the concept of aeration has changed since I have been monitoring pitches. It has altered my view of aeration now. Personally, I wouldn’t mess around with a pedestrian aerator on a cricket square. If you can get such a machine in at full depth immediately at the end of the season, then there is probably something wrong with the make-up of the square.
The two forms of aeration I’d go for would be the Deep Drill and what Keith Exton at the SWALEC has been doing with his deep aerator - if it is done properly, at the right time, in the right conditions, with the right machine and the right operator, the findings from the research leans towards the benefit of a one-off operation being suffice.
I take hundreds of cores across the country and, more often than not, I see breaks at exactly 50mm, which suggests that the affect of the roller is dissipating at 50mm.
Every time you roll, you are compressing the soil particles and you can get to a point where the soil structure is compromised. We were always told as youngsters the first remedial operation at the end of the season was to spike to relieve the compaction. We know now that standard aeration does not decompact the square. If anything, it almost pushes the soil aside and increases the density. However, if you use lift or heave of any kind, that is decompaction, just like you want to achieve on a standard outfield or winter sportsfield. What we are also doing is forming a channel for grass roots to develop through the soil profile to get a good soil environment.
The roots not only bind any layered profile
MAKE SURE YOUR GROUND IS FROSTPROTECTEDTHIS WINTER
With over 30 years experience in manufacturing, Stuart Canvas is the UK’s leading supplier and manufacturer of ground protection products for pitch and training grounds. All our products are manufactured at our Warrington factory under strict quality control management and are designed to provide the best protection against rain, frost and debris.
Due to the increasing severe weather conditions last season many games across the UK were abandoned. We have recognised that sporting clubs and associations require adequate protection against the elements at short notice. Covers can be produced as ’flat sheets’ or as an ‘Inflatable tube’ system and by offering a made to measure service on all our covers we are able to
Call us today on 01925 814525 or visit
www.stuartcanvas.co.uk Unit 6, Hardwick Grange, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 4RF | F: 01925 831709 | E:
sales@stuartcanvas.co.uk
40 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014
advise on the best solution for your grounds.
• FROST • FROST GERMINATION • RAIN • PLAYERS TUNNELS • SAND BAGS
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 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156