Summer Sports - Cricket GETTING Personal...
Jamie Smart ‐ would George Michael be the mediator?
Who are you? Jamie Smart, Head Groundsman at Newtown Cricket Club
Family status? Single.
Who’s your hero and why? Ian Wright and Tony Adams ‐ great footballers.
What would you change about yourself? Nothing. I’m happy. Maybe prettier with a smaller nose.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Playing darts and getting drunk on Fridays.
What’s been the highlight of your grounds career so far? Newtown nearly putting on 300 runs.
What are your pet peeves? Dog walkers allowing their dogs to foul the pitch.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? Galapagos Islands. It’s isolated.
What’s the best part of your job? Fresh air, sun tan and making a difference.
… and the worst? Getting the work done in hard conditions.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? It was a DB9 and a boat by 45, but that’s only two years off now!
Favourite record, and why? ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis. It was my era.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Christina Perri.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Build a new clubhouse.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King Jr. and George Michael.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? Donald Trump, because then I could jump off something.
Do you have any bad habits? Smoking and swearing. ... or any good ones? I’m polite and honest.
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day's workload? The weather ‐ yes.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Have no regrets.
What’s your favourite smell? Bread baking.
What do you do in your spare time? Mountain biking. I knocked myself out once and woke up between about twenty sheep [we then made some unfair jokes about the Welsh].
What’s the daftest work-related question you have ever been asked? “How do you stop the grass from growing on the square?”
What’s your favourite piece of kit? A box.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Honest, trustworthy, nightmare.
What talent would you like to have? I’d be better at cricket. Facing an 85mph ball just makes me go “oh no.”
88 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018
stone. So, I’d say it’s more stone‐ based than clay‐based on the outfield.”
“The Welsh Rugby Union came down a few months ago to do samples of the rugby pitches, although we don’t take them from our side of the land. They said that they couldn’t play on it, but they wouldn’t give feedback as to why.” The pitch is 130 yards in one direction, and 110 yards in the other. This makes the playable area around 2.32 acres, which is a substantial amateur pitch. Even with all this area to maintain, and the higher rainfall associated with the strip of land between mid‐Wales and northwest‐England, Jamie is proud of his ability to keep it playable. “It used to be that the club would have seven‐or‐eight games rained off in a year, but I think it’s been about two per season since I started.” “We have a rule with the weather; there is a mast just outside Newtown and, if we can’t see the mast, we assume that there’s a maximum of five minutes before the rain comes in.”
“By the time we rush to get the covers on when that happens, the rain will have got to us, so we don’t delay as soon as that mast disappears.”
Facing that same issue are the groundsmen who maintain the rugby pitches and tennis courts at The Recreation Ground, but Jamie has more contact with the greenkeeper of the golf club which is adjacent to the cricket pitch.
“I see him daily when I’m down there. And we chat about the weather, mainly. It’s a groundsman’s thing, but it’s also a Welsh thing.” “We’ll talk about what’s on its way, or what’s just been. It’s sad, I suppose, but it’s your priority as a groundsman, and naturally that’s what we end up talking about.” We spoke about Jamie’s regimes, and he said he tries to get all work done on a Friday evening after work, just in time for a weekend of good cricket.
“Then, on Saturday morning, it’ll just be a case of rolling the covers off, placing the stumps, sticking in the flags on the boundary rope, and maybe a quick roll. The Friday will usually consist of cutting the pitch, marking out, rolling the pitch.” He cuts with a Honda mower. “You can’t go wrong with Honda,” he said. “Our Honda engine for the square is brilliant. For the outfield, we use a Toro Reelmaster, which is another fantastic machine and I’ve never had
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