Summer Sports - Cricket
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Concerts are, for me, the most stressful time of the season and there’s usually a game pitch to prepare for the following Friday
An Irish winner for England. Eoin Morgan nails a century and the Aussies back in 2010
England to take on India. As the date nears, the ECB will talk to Karl about the sort of pitch they want for it.
What’s in the shed?
Dennis FT610 cylinder mower with interchangeable cassettes x 2 Dennis 560 cylinder mower Dennis Razor cylinder mower Dennis Premier 36 inch cylinder mower Lloyds Paladin cylinder mower Allett 36 inch cylinder mower Sisis Rotorake Sisis Combirake x 2 Sisis Truspread topdresser John Deere 8700 fairway mower John Deere 8800 semi rough mower John Deere R54RKB rotary mower John Deere 3720 tractor John Deere 3083 tractor
John Deere Aercore 1500 tractor mounted spiker
John Deere Aercore 800 pedestrian spiker
Tractor mounted Graden Pedestrian Graden Blec Uniseeder SCAG SW walk behind rotary mower Blotter
Autoguide Auto‐roller Poweroll County Pedestrian sprayer Tractor mounted sprayer
Variety of strimmers, blowers and fertiliser spreaders
100 I PC APRIL/MAY 2018
“As it’s India I’m pretty sure they won’t want me to produce a turner,” said Karl wrily. “It’s not in our interests either to have a game that’s over in under three days. We want customers ‐ lots of them ‐ and the revenue they bring. ECB pitches advisor Chris Wood is a regular visitor here and I expect to have chats with him in the coming months.” Karl has known Chris since his early days as a groundsman, and first met him in Ireland ahead of the World Cup game there in 1998. It was Chris that helped him get established in the first class game in England.
The Ageas Bowl is not scheduled to stage another Test until at least 2024 because the ECB has turned its sights on the more traditional Test grounds around the country, especially with the upgrading of their infrastructure, notably at Old Trafford and Headingly.
ODIs and Twenty20 internationals are a different matter and Hampshire’s HQ will continue to be very much on the radar for these.
This year saw Karl and the Ageas Bowl host the annual head groundsmans seminar. “Everyone was jealous when they saw our equipment shed,” joked Karl. “They thought I had too much kit. Actually, a lot of what they saw belongs to the greenkeepers who look after Hampshire CCC’s 18‐hole Boundary Lakes Golf Club, at the front of the hotel and another important revenue stream. For the time being, we share the same equipment space, though they are getting their own facility soon.”
“We get on very well and even share one or two items of larger equipment, like tractors. The greenkeeping guys will be welcome extra labour during the Test match, because the golf course will be closed, but otherwise we operate entirely separately.” The main pitch covers had been on almost perpetually for weeks but, as soon as they came off, pre‐season heavy rolling was in full swing. The square in late March looked verdant and ready for final preparation. Karl’s seed of choice, Johnson’s Premier Wicket
perennial ryegrass mix, continues to produce the goods for him. Although understandably a little soggy after the snow, the outfield is not far from an all‐over summer look too. Karl breathes a sigh of relief when I ask him about concerts. There are none here this year apparently. He’s not too upset. Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart are among the big names that have appeared in the past.
Concert seating is set up without covering the square, but outfield effects are a concern he doesn’t deny. “Concerts are, for me, the most stressful time of the season and there’s usually a game pitch to prepare for the following Friday,” he said.
The hotel, conferences and banqueting ‐ and more recently the golf course ‐ are all part of the Ageas Bowl business, but it’s cricket that drives things. Presentation of the ground ‐ not just for cricket ‐ is crucial. There’s no doubt there is almost a wow factor when you arrive at the ground and get glimpses of the stadium surface as you walk around the outer perimeter. “Cricket is unquestionably the main provider at the Ageas Bowl,” said Karl. “If cricket wasn’t here, there’d be no business. None of those in charge of things here ever forget that and I get massive support and understanding for all matters relating to care of the pitches and outfields.”
Next year is going to be a big one for Karl. There are five guaranteed World Cup group games, plus two or three earlier warm‐up games. In May, there is also an England Pakistan ODI. It will be a very intensive six‐ week period of international cricket with no county matches at all. Karl recalls his pre‐Hampshire days when he wintered in South Africa and was on the team that looked after the pitches for five World Cup matches, including the semi‐final, at the St Georges Ground, Port Elizabeth. He more or less shadowed the head groundsman and got a real feel for the pressure of big match preparation. Early summer 2019 may see the current deputy at the Port Elizabeth ground joining the Ageas Bowl team for their World Cup work. Karl knows just how valuable this is. Karl refers to the pitch as the head
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