Summer Sports - Cricket


undergo a new drainage programme some years ago by placing nine inch drains every four feet across the grounds to help increase the water flow from the soil in times of heavy rain.” “If the playing schedule gets really heavy,


then we aerate the grounds once a week just to keep the air flowing through the soil structure. On top of that, we hire an outside contractor to come in twice per year to verti- drain the grounds too.” “The grounds are mostly used by our own


cricket teams, which include youth, women’s and senior teams. However, in the past, some of the local schools have come here to play as well,” he said. Presentation of the field ranks extremely high with the passionate groundcare crew. “It’s all about the weather,” said Leslie. “If we get the good weather, then we can present our grounds to the best of our ability. We know our wickets give every game an excellent playing surface; the best in the country,” he offered.


“


The maintenance schedule is fairly similar


to that practised at most clubs, but the attention to detail helps the club stand out. The outfield is cut twice a week and


maintained at around 10mm, whilst the square is usually kept around 8mm and taken down to 4mm on match days. Head Groundsman Michael Kennedy


outlined the end of season work on the grounds. He said: “September 2016 was my first end of season renovation and there was quite a bit of thatch in the profile. The ground used to be known as one that has good batting pitches, but this had become a little ‘tennis ball’ in bounce, so there needed to be some extra work planned.” “Also, previously the pitch had been


overseeded with MM29, so the square had fescue and bent grass, something I wanted to get rid of.” “After receiving some advice from Andy


Mackay at Sussex, the decision was taken to burn off the entire square, a job not for the faint hearted! So, a few days later, it was


sprayed with glyphosate; something that had not been attempted on a premier league cricket square in Northern Ireland.” “The square was then cut to as low as the


mower would go, and heavily scarified with a Sisis 600 in several directions. It was brushed and mowed in between passes. Then it was seeded with MM50, and topdressed with Super Surrey Loam from Binders. The levels were again checked and dragmatted.” “What followed can only be best described


as episodes of blind panic, with lots of questions being asked by members and fellow groundsmen.” “The theory of what I had done stacked up


but, until I saw germination, it was a nervous few weeks. Thankfully, nine weeks after renovation there was a superb coverage, which is exactly what we wanted,” said Michael.


Michael takes regular soil samples to keep a close eye on the soil structure and its requirements. With warmer winters being experienced across Northern Ireland, it can


After receiving some advice from Andy Mackay at Sussex, the decision was taken to burn off the entire square, a job not for the faint hearted!


56 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017


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