Winter Sports - Rugby


“ Arthur Bowron


Five years ago, we completely relaid the entire cricket square and verti- drained the outfield. This gave us a completely rejuvenated square on which to play and it has stood up well since then


60 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 ” The cricket square - eight grass pitches and one artificial


I took two cricket ground courses, at levels one and two, to educate myself on the best husbandry for the cricket square


The magnificent clubhouse is shared by all


excellent sporting facility with the best grounds that we can possible achieve,” he said.


And, when it comes to the cricket club, it


too is run by volunteers who also have immense pride in what they do and how they look after their own little piece of ground in Ballyclare. For the past twenty years, Arthur Bowron


has looked after the grounds for Templepatrick Cricket Club, wherever it has been. He is the current grounds convenor for the club and began his playing career back in 1995.


“I began playing cricket back in 1995 as I


always had an interest in the sport,” said Arthur. “I work mostly on the cricket square here, with one other person, on a volunteer basis. There are another three people who work on the outfield and we sometimes bring experts in to do soil sampling and examine the square.” “The pitches, where the cricket square is,


were filled in with over twelve feet of rubble and soil when they were being constructed. As a result, we have a cricket square standing on soil with an excellent root structure.”


“I took two cricket ground courses, at


levels one and two, to educate myself on the best husbandry for the cricket square.” The cricket square consists of eight wickets and one synthetic wicket and the club has its own ground sheets and roll on covers should the weather turn nasty. There are also four synthetic practice


wickets located close by in an enclosed area, which was constructed around five years ago. “During the cricket season, we maintain the cricket square at around 10 to 15mm grass height. The rugby guys prefer the grass to be longer, but we like it shorter for obvious reasons.” “In the winter and spring months, we spike


the ground, if conditions allow. At the end of the season, we normally scarify the square, topdress it and reseed. The synthetic pitches are all brushed, washed and rolled as well.” “Five years ago, we completely relaid the


entire cricket square and verti-drained the outfield. This gave us a completely rejuvenated square on which to play and it has stood up well since then.” Arthur noted the members of club are extremely conscious of implementing top


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