Summer Sports - Cricket Stourport on Severn CC Shifnal Cricket Club
Adrian Shelley is a volunteer groundsman at Shifnal Cricket Club in Shropshire.
Eddie Giles is a part time groundsman at Stourport on Severn Cricket Club.
How long have you worked at current venue? Fifteen years as head groundsman, although my involvement with the club stretches back thirty years.
What staff do you have? There are five of us now. One has taken on our second ground and the others help with the outfield and the ground in general.
What level of cricket do you provide for (eg school, local league, county)? Local league. It is also used by local schools and also for county junior games.
Describe your cricket facility in terms of loam content, size of the square and the number of fixtures? The square is sixteen tracks made up from Kaloam (Banbury) and will have about seventy games of differing standards of cricket.
What end of season renovations do you plan to undertake? A complete renovation programme. Scarifcation, seeding and topdressing.
When are you doing the renovations? As soon as the season is over in mid September.
What is your budget? Whatever it takes. There is no budget for end of season work. It is the most important part of the year.
Describe the sequence of work - eg cutting, scarifying, aeration etc., and also tell us what machinery and/or products you use for each operation? I will shave the square, scarify with a Sisis Rotorake, clean all the debris off the square, then apply a preseed fertiliser and, finally, seed and topdress with four or five bags per strip.
Do you use a contractor for any of the work? If so, for which operations? On our main ground, I had the square renovated completely by a contractor last season, but normally I will get the contractor to scarify the square and I will do the rest. Last year, I had a family bereavement so I did not have the time.
Finally, do you have any advice or tips on how to ensure a successful renovation? Three things. Firstly, do not skimp. Secondly, do the work as soon as you can after the season has finished and, finally, do not do or have the work done and then walk away. A cricket groundsman’s season never ends. I know club budgets are tight, but what you put into the square at this time of year you get out in the following season.
54 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014
How long have you worked at Shifnal? Thirty-four years as a volunteer groundsman. I am also a past player and captained the club for a number of years. My dad Eddie was groundsman at the club and so I got involved at an early age, helping him out, and it progressed from there. I am also the ECB Pitch Advisor for Shropshire, so have an active role in coordinating and helping clubs improve their grounds, via the use of the ECB County trailer that provides access to the use of a Groundsman spiker and Sisis Rotorake 602 scarifier.
I generally spend between twenty and thirty hours a week looking after our two grounds with my fellow volunteers.
What staff do you have? Three volunteers; Ian Stanley, Trevor Tarran and Jim Flavell.
What level of cricket do you provide for (eg school, local league, county)? Shifnal Cricket Club is an ECB Focus Club and is Clubmark accredited. It is firmly established in the Birmingham Cricket League. We run four senior teams during weekends, offering cricket from players looking for high level club cricket to players looking to join a club from a social point of view. We also regularly host Minor Counties fixtures, both one and three day games.
In addition, the club has a women’s section and runs a vibrant junior section for 7 (Year 3) to 16 year olds. Young players are given opportunities to compete and improve their skills with junior matches and training during the summer.
Describe your cricket facility in terms of loam content, size of the square and the number of fixtures?
Shifnal run two grounds. The home ground provides a thirteen pitch square made up of Boughton County loam with a free draining sandy soil outfield. Our second ground, Weston, is part of the Weston Park Estate near Cosford. Here, we have a six pitch square, again made up of Boughton County loam which host the 2nd and 3rd team fixtures.
What end of season renovations do you plan to undertake? Scarification, overseeding and topdressing.
When are you doing the renovations? Mid-September.
What is your budget? £1200, which is mainly material costs, as most of the labour is done for free.
Describe the sequence of work - eg
cutting, scarifying, aeration etc., and also tell us what machinery and/or products you use for each operation? The square is shaved to pitch length 3- 4mm and then scarified in at least two directions; more if time and conditions allow, using the Shropshire GA Sisis 602. The square is oversown with Perennial Rye Grass and each pitch is then topdressed with eight bags of Boughton County Loam using a cyclone spreader and then brushed into the surface.
A pre-seeding fertiliser is also applied to help promote growth once the seed has germinated. Any regular cutting and aeration work usually commences later in the autumn once the new grass has established. I usually spike the square two or three times between November and February when conditions allow.
It’s going to be an interesting renovation period this year at Shifnal as it coincides with a major refurbishment of our outfield which, in September, will be completely re-laid (cut and fill) to address some serious hollows. £90,000 project. So, getting access to the square, whilst this work is going on, will be interesting to say the least.
Finally, do you have any advice or tips on how to ensure a successful renovation? Carry out as soon after season finishes, but only when conditions allow. Do not try to spike your square as part of end of season renovations unless ground conditions are suitable. Carry out this operation when the ground has softened up and continue monthly until the end of January the following year.
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