Summer Sports - Cricket GETTING Personal...
Jack Chapman - Max Raptor and Enter Shikari - yep, we had to look them up too. They’re not bad either!
Who are you? Jack Chapman, North Warwickshire CC Groundsman, Kingsbury Lawn Care.
Family status? Single.
Who’s your hero and why? Scott Bevan, old Tamworth FC goalkeeper. Ruptured a kidney after a collision, was back on the pitch the following season.
What would you change about yourself? Try not to work too hard. Put my laptop down and try to get into a few films maybe.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Coronation Street.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Work wise, expanding my lawn care business to needing a second van at the age of twenty-two. Groundsmanship, getting the NWCC square into the condition that it is currently.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Erm, do these get easier? Not a clue!
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Maybe Gary Barwell at Edgbaston, just as a means to finding out what it is like preparing international pitches.
Do you have any bad habits? Nicking off to first slip.
... or any good ones? Away from the industry, it may be seen as bad, but slightly OCD when it comes to presentation.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? I’d like to think not, but occasionally.
What are you reading at the moment? Reading? Does Facebook count? The Pitchcare magazine too, of course.
What are your pet peeves? Those 12.15pm players. Above all though, clients that talk too much and you know rain is on the way in the afternoon.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Go back to Australia. It’s the size of Europe and six weeks last winter doesn’t do it justice. Ashes in two years’ time maybe?
What’s the best part of your job? A cold beer at the end of the day in the knowledge that everything you’ve done is to the best of your ability.
… and the worst? Prolonged rain when you don't want it, and machinery issues.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? Not really. Work hard, play hard, see plenty of the world.
Favourite record, and why? Difficult; could say quite a few - nothing that the majority want to hear!
Anything from Max Raptor. The most underrated punk rock band ever, and being quite local to me being from Burton upon Trent. Worth a listen if you like a chanty rock songs about England.
Enter Shikari, huge fan. They’ve taken electronic rock to another level. I like what
80 I PC APRIL/MAY 2016
Jack Chapman at Kings Canyon, Northern Territories, Australia
they stand for in their lyrics that are often quite political. They want to push and challenge through music like I like to think I do to myself through my business and the cricket club. They play arenas yet don’t charge stupid money like most bands end up doing.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Michelle Keegan. Who wouldn’t? I was gutted when she left Corrie.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? I’ve bought two tickets in my life, so it won’t be happening any time soon. Yet to move out, so get shopping for my own place would be up there.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A drum - repetitive. Either keeping the beat, allowing others to do a job around me, or irritating!
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Take what you’re told with a pinch of salt.
What’s your favourite smell? I’ve got to say freshly mown grass haven’t I really.
What do you do in your spare time? When I have time, I enjoy going to gigs and festivals, and some mountain climbing away from the cricket season. Travelling is something I want to do more of. Sport wise, playing cricket, some running through the winter to keep sharp.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? “Do you have a flamethrower?” Asked by a woman in her late 80s.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? My Hayter Pro 48, it provides an excellent cut for a rotary. Very efficient collection and a nice finish.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Hardworking, reliable, driven.
What talent would you like to have? Consistency with the bat in hand!
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced?
No phone calls after 7.00pm. I’ve done a twelve hour day by this point, after all.
The square over winter
from our local crown green bowls club where he assists his dad, so we get by without our own machine. It would be a big investment for the sake of one annual use in November. I sarrel roll monthly, but it is a very old tool with worn spikes.” “Trying to keep the mesh fence in reasonable shape is another regular winter task. I feel that, before I took on the square, winter maintenance was minimal. In March 2015, the square had a lot of moss in the surface, requiring fairly heavy scarifying, which was far from ideal, leading to us entering the season with the grass on the thin side - but that’s not the case this season,” comments Jack. “The square is maintained at a height of 12mm
from April onwards. I don’t see the need to go any lower with the local conditions - it would only lead to stress placed on the sward and further requirement for watering in summer.” “I operate a twelve day pitch preparation, which I
can extend by a couple of days in spring or if adverse conditions are expected. I can get by with 8-10 days in mid-summer, I’ve found. We have a mechanical scarifier, along with my own push rake, which I use to stand the grass up when preparing pitches. The standard match height is 4mm. I have also experimented with leaving the match pitches up at 5- 6mm. The bowlers still blame me if the ball is going to the rope though!” “When taking a wicket out of play, I like to get the
ends repaired as soon as possible. It’s nice to get into July and beyond and have a good covering of grass across the whole square - by far improving presentation and shows you take some serious pride in the job that you do, just making the effort to restore some growth, even if it’s not perfect. We have a good supply of germination sheeting and I’ve cut a couple of 6ft x 6ft pieces for ends. These are vital for getting new grasses back through for the following weekend. I’m going to experiment with chitting this season.” “On a monthly basis, I like to lightly scarify the whole surface. We don’t have a verticutter, but that would be the ideal machine for the job to help the grasses stand tall with less horizontal growth - something that Bob Stretton picked up on when he called by last season.” “For 2016, I will be using Pro-Organic’s Polaris slow
release granular products. This includes a 15:4:8 in March, 15:0:0 in late June, and 15:0:0 at in mid/late September, with renovations. These applications at varying rates should reflect the plant’s nitrogen demands perfectly for the local conditions all year around. The square suffered from red thread in the autumn, so I hope this calculated nitrogen supply will
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