Summer Sports - Cricket GETTING Personal...
Eddy Bayton - every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man - even those who might ‘twitch’ a bit!
Who are you? Eddy Bayton, Head Groundsman at Torrisholme Cricket Club.
Family status? Married to Jane; three children growing up fast, one 18, and 16 year old twins.
and hedgehog poo can be a problem though. Worms are a big problem and I try to address that in early spring and summer, if it’s wet. I don’t mind worms after the season finishes, they help drain and aerate the square. I can cope with the casts out of season if they do that. At high tide in winter, we get a lot of oystercatchers. They make excellent natural spikers and, along with the starlings, remove the vast majority of chafers and leatherjackets for me. Luckily, rabbits aren’t a problem, as we have buzzards and ravens nesting locally.” “We don’t have an environmental policy as such, but I try to do as little damage to the balance as possible. You have to spray a bit, but think carefully about what goes on and most importantly, when,” he says. “The ground is part of a BTO (British
Trust for Ornithology) Tetrad 1 survey. They have just published their ten year atlas of breeding birds, including my paltry little patch.”
“I try and dovetail the needs of cricket and the environment with everything I do, be it encouraging fruit in the hedges or not spraying all the nettles and brambles to retain a food source.”
As the interview concludes, Eddy offers his thoughts on the industry. “Standards, machinery and technology are improving. The high standards at the top flight are now filtering down to the recreational level. Everything is light years away from thirty years ago,” he states. “You only have to look at old footage of rugby or football to see that.”
“I worry about the advance of artificial surfaces in winter sports though. I can understand hockey, but football and rugby doesn’t seem the same to me on plastic. The downside of the industry is that pay and conditions remain pretty feudal for the full timers. I’m glad I’m only part time!” “We need to raise our profile. Talk to the media, especially the TV. When did you last see a groundie interviewed in a positive light (or at all?) where he is able to explain what he’s doing? Wembley, Wimbledon, the Test Grounds etc. have all come in for stick with little comeback from those responsible. There is more to Football Focus than interviewing a barely coherent £100k a week footballer, with a tractor mowing in the background for ‘colour.’ Perhaps it’s time for Pitchcare TV?”
Who’s your hero and why? My wife Jane, she’s a teacher and works longer days than anyone I know. In school before eight and the day’s only half over when she leaves the car park. Most of the world doesn’t realise that is what teaching is about. A midnight finish is usual.
What would you change about yourself? Get a few pounds off and dress smarter sometimes.
What’s your guilty pleasure? A sunny day and a wheelbarrow to sit in ... try it.
What do you drop everything for? We had a migrating osprey over the ground this spring. I dropped everything for that and ran for the binoculars.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Hosting a Palace Shield final with the ground full and the game going to the last over.
Glass half full or half empty? Empty, mine’s a pint please.
Climate change - fact or fiction? Fact, but it’s change, not necessarily warming; just very different with bigger extremes.
What’s your favourite season? Summer. June 21st to be precise!
What are your pet peeves? People who never give anything, just take from life and only think of themselves. They need to be tripped into the nettles when no one is looking.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Packing for the Ashes in Australia again. We went before we had kids in 1994-5. We came back with the start of a family.
What’s the best part of your job? Collecting the stumps from the umpires when the match aggregate has been 400-19 on a hot sunny day.
… and the worst? Pushing the covers on in a rainstorm when the seconds have hared into the pavilion to play poker.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? To see my kids set up in the world.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? A Premier League football referee.
Favourite record, and why? Teenage Kicks, The Undertones or Sheena is a Punk Rocker, The Ramones. Saw them both sing it live, reminds me of being young. Changes my mood instantly.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? My wife Jane, of course. We will have time for that one year, I hope.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Bank the cheque!
No, seriously, buy a Groundsman spiker and a big scarifier.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A French Horn, difficult to understand with a twisted sense of humour and you need to stuff a hand over its mouth to shut it up.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Stop talking a minute and listen!
What’s your favourite smell? Lamb Dhansak, Kheema Naan and Bhindi Baji ... and I don’t share, I’m very much a Smithy man (ref. Gavin and Stacey).
What do you do in your spare time? Read a lot, and dabble in birdwatching, though I’m not a twitcher, please!
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? Player: What are those on the pitch? Me: Fairy rings. Player, laughing on floor: You aren’t serious, are you?
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Anything shiny and new I suppose.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Probably too serious.
What talent would you like to have? Bit late now, but to be a good enough a bat to get a ton. I’ve been out in the nineties three times.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? All newly elected MPs should be made to work for three months in a secondary school, three months in A&E at their local hospital, three months with the police and three months in the armed services (including basic training) before taking their seat. Then we would get candidates of some use, with an experience of the real world and its needs.
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014 PC 53
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