Summer Sports - Cricket
many years by Tony, with help from Joe and Barry, plus a number of others as required, he decided to pass on the duties to Paul Mitchell, who was keen to take on the role. “I am, after all, eighty-two and simply can’t manage what I used to be able to do,” he comments, somewhat regretfully. Paul, himself a former player, level 2 ECB
coach and qualified umpire, took on the role of Head Groundsman two years ago. He has attended a number of cricket groundsmen training courses and is keen to put into practice some of the things he has been taught.
The square is Surrey loams and provides
ten match pitches, three practice pitches and three junior pitches. The club has also invested in a two bay net practice area which they installed themselves. The outfield slopes on one side and can
The collection of wooden buildings will be refurbished when funds become available
“ 88 I PC JUNE/JULY 2014
become boggy when the adjacent pond floods, fortunately only usually during the winter months, otherwise it drains well and keeps a good coverage of grass throughout the playing season.
During the playing season, that can be upward of thirty hours a week as I do the bulk of the work myself, although I do have willing and able volunteers to help me out
The outfield is cut with a set of Lloyds Leda gangmowers set at 20mm, sometimes two or three times a week depending on growth. The square is kept at 10mm and brought down to the playing height of 3-4mm during a standard ten day preparation. A Ransomes Super Certes 51 cylinder mower and Jacobsen 22 with floating head are used. Paul also uses a Dennis FT 610 for verticutting. Paul confesses that the recent purchases
New Poweroll 12 roller ...
from Devon Garden Machinery - a John Deere 4410 compact tractor, new Poweroll 12 roller and Dennis FT 610 - have made his job a lot easier.
He hires in a verti-drain to undertake deep
aeration work to decompact the outfield, usually in March. He also hires in a tractor mounted scarifier to renovate the square in September. His end of season renovations are centred on a good clean out, scarifying in three directions, topdressing with loam and overseeding with rye grass. Paul is an avid Pitchcare member who
... and John Deere 4410 courtesy of the Landfill Communities Fund
constantly uses the site for keeping up with products and services. He also purchases seed, fertiliser and weedkiller from the online shop and enjoys reading the message board and magazine. He is keen to continue Tony’s good work and further improve the bounce on the square. After taking some soil samples, we could see that root depth was good at 225mm and there were no root breaks, giving the best indication that the work carried out on the square over previous years had been consistent.
As a self employed accountant, Paul is able
to juggle his work commitments, but confesses that he spends time “most days” down at the club to keep on top of the workload. “During the playing season, the number of games mean that you are at the club nearly every day, but I am lucky that I do have willing and able volunteers to help me out.”
L-r: Tony Bowhay, Joe Clowes, Paul Mitchell and Barry Hedger
There are plans to refurbish the old
wooden clubhouse or, perhaps, even replace it with a new building, so the fundraising
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