Summer Sports - Cricket GETTING Personal...
Jez Sadler - fav song? Smoke gets in your eyes!
Who are you? Jez Sadler, Head Groundsman at Colchester and East Essex Cricket Club.
Family status? Married with four children, three girls and a boy. One grandson.
Who’s your hero and why? Colin McRae, World Rally Champion. I also rallied cars in my twenties.
What would you change about yourself? Cut down on drinking and smoking.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Alcohol.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? ECB commendation in 2014.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be? Lewis Hamilton. Any bad habits?My wife says it’s my snoring. Or any good ones? When I don’t!
Do you tend to worry about your workload? No, not really; I try not to take my work home.
What are your pet gripes/dislikes? Wicketkeepers gouging out marks in the turf for off stump and leg stump.
If you could go anywhere right now where would it be? Somewhere warm with a cold beer.
What’s the best part of your job? Being outside seven days a week.
And the worst? Rain, especially on match days; it means endless placing and removing covers.
What is your lifetime ambition? A move to manage a county ground.
Favourite record and why? None, I have an eclectic taste in music, although I dislike classical.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? My wife.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? A long family holiday, somewhere hot with that cold beer!
If you were a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A moaning trumpet.
What’s the best advice you've ever been given? Keep it simple; from our first team captain Ben Stephens.
What’s your favourite smell? Like virtually every other person you’ve interviewed - new mown grass.
What do you do in your spare time? Cars are my passion; I love renovating and tuning cars and used to race Autograss. I love Brands Hatch track days.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? My little Dennis FT610 with its cassette system.
Three words to describe yourself? Easy going, reliable, up for a laugh!
What law or piece of legislation would you like to see introduced? I’m going to be controversial here, but I would like smoking to be allowed in pubs.
68 I PC JUNE/JULY 2017
the northern area of the outfield is clay. Historically, we had some major drainage issues as we are located on the floodplain, but that’s been completely resolved. I’m a great advocate of Ongar Loam Plus on the square, its constituent parts are 30% clay, 30% sand and 40% silt and that suits me fine.” “With regards to environmental
issues, I take a common-sense approach. Yes, I use chemicals and fertilisers, but I am especially careful as we have the river on one of our boundaries; I have an irrigation tank, which is mains-fed and four sets of pop-up sprinklers around the Main square; on the Junior square, I have a watering point where I can attach a sprinkler or hand water with a hose.”
“End of year renovations are as
you would expect; I scarify, re- seed, topdress, then cover with a germination sheet. I’ve learned a lot in the past five years, some from hands-on experience and even more thanks to some regional training courses.” Before I leave, I have brief
conversations with Lester Willis, contract supervisor for idverde, who happened to drop by to borrow a piece of equipment. I asked him how Jez was getting on; the reply was very complimentary. “He’s a great guy and a very
good colleague. His dedication and enthusiasm for the job is brilliant; if there’s a Sunday game, you’ll often find him down here, especially if there’s a threat of bad weather. He certainly was thrown in at the deep end, but has
revelled in the job. Good on him!” Colchester and East Essex have a flourishing junior section and the junior players are hugely grateful for the work that Jez does to ensure that the junior pitches are of a high standard. Club Chairman, Andrew Kennedy, is also very praiseworthy, “Jez does an excellent job here at Castle Park; the tracks are as good as they can be and that’s due to his dedication and enthusiasm. We are fortunate to have him.” As I say my goodbyes, it’s
refreshing to meet someone who made a decision to change career and grab the opportunities that have come his way. His ambition is to manage a county ground one day. All I can say is keep looking over your shoulder Stuart Kerrison.
What’s in the shed?
John Deere 2653B ride-on triple mower Auto-roller
Dennis FT610 walk-behind mower with cassette units
Dennis G860 heavy duty walk- behind mower
SISIS Auto Rake self-propelled scarifier
SISIS Combirake dual-purpose brush and rake
Stuart Canvas Inflatable covers Various mobile pitch covers Various hand-held equipment
Colchester & EE Cricket Club chairman Andrew Kennedy (seen here with the juniors) says Jez is doing a very good job
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