Summer Sports - Cricket
An exposed cricket ground in the heart of Northern Ireland is perhaps not the best place to be on a cold and frosty morning, but that is where Chris McCullough found himself to interview Michael Kennedy, the Head Groundsman at one of the region’s most picturesque cricket clubs
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t’s a cricket ground steeped in history and, for the members of Muckamore Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, it’s a real privilege to continue to play there. Situated in the village of Muckamore
just south of Antrim town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and beside an old flax mill, the club dates back to 1874. At one point in time, the finished linen from the old mill used to be laid out on the ground where the cricket pitches are now in order for the sun to bleach it. For over 140 years, the sport of cricket has been played on the same ground which runs adjacent to the Six Mile Water River. Thanks to development work around the turn of the century, this cricket club can now boast two cricket pitches; the main one called Moylena and a smaller one called Harrigans Hill, or Nursery Park as referred to by the players. Moylena is regarded highly in the cricket world as a beautiful ground and, back in
2005, it was used as a venue for ICC Trophy group stage matches. Then, in 2007, Moylena hosted an international match between Ireland ‘A’ and Denmark and, in the last few years, has hosted Ireland U19s, an MCC team and several local cup finals. Although there are no lawn tennis facilities
at Muckamore these days, the venue has provided tennis facilities in the Antrim and Muckamore areas for over 100 years and currently has four synthetic tennis courts. The lucky man who has the job of looking
after these historic grounds is head groundsman Michael Kennedy. His day job is in IT, but he has worked on a part time basis at Muckamore for the past ten years. It’s a real labour of love for Michael to
look after the grounds as, in the early days of his involvement, he found working in the open air a real escape from airports, as he always jetting off somewhere for his IT job. Michael said: “I started getting involved at
Muckamore all those years ago helping the previous groundsman, Billy Johnstone. My initial involvement was pretty much sitting on a roller on a Friday afternoon. At the time, I was working in Europe from Monday to Thursday and, having been trawled through various airports, sitting in a wide open space on a Friday afternoon was a great way to unwind. And it sort of grew from there.” Although working in IT, Michael has
completed a number of training courses, including the PA1 and PA6 courses and assessment. He is currently studying Level 2 Sports Turf. Michael fondly remembers the man who
inspired him into the industry, and that was John McCormick. “John has a passion for
local cricket, and Muckamore in particular,” said Michael. “Anyone who knows him will understand where I am coming from, and I caught the bug from him. Thankfully, he stays away from the machinery these days,” laughed Michael. “The sightscreens would have been a crash barrier when John was on a mower.” Even though Michael is part time, he does
have an important role within the club with some budgetary responsibilities. “I report to the cricket committee who, in turn, report to the general committee of the club,” he said. “I do have a budget and, in this day and age, it’s becoming more and more difficult to manage, but our club treasurer does a fantastic job.” “During the winter months, all the work at the club is basically left to me. In the summer months, I have a number of helpers. My role is pretty much to work on the square and oversee the outfield operations. I have a contractor who takes care of the tractor mounted operations.” Drainage at Muckamore probably ranks amongst the best in Northern Ireland, as Michael explained. “On the main pitch, we have probably the best drainage in the country, due to it having been a bleaching green during the days of flax. The workers would have used this green at the weekends. It’s a cinder or clinker base and, on top of that, its mostly sandy, although we do have some areas where it is quite clay based. These latter areas are slowly improving through verti-draining and topdressing with sand.”
“We have standard roll on roll off covers.
However, we do have a slope to contend with, which can cause water to run under.
PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016 I 81
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