CRICKET


I give the team their heads and trust them to make their own decisions, but I put my name to


” Vic and his team in World Cup attire


everything. I’m a hands- on head who wants to keep on making cricket pitches


here and wanted to come back. Then two more staff left. One had been with us a year and realised that it wasn’t for him.” “The girl who had been on the team for three years lost interest in the work. I had high hopes for her. She could certainly handle herself in the job, but had no interest in cricket. Women can do the job really well and are just as capable as men and I prefer to run a ‘mixed’ team when I can.” Some members are staying put. Ben Hall, 30, has worked at Riverside for ten years in


two spells and tends the off-ground practice facility,


Mark Patterson, Vic’s deputy, is in his early 40s and has clocked up twenty years for Durham. He focuses on the stadium’s eight practice pitches (Vic caring for the sixteen other strips, including two hybrids installed for T20, junior and corporates). May new-starter Tom Wilson, 25, has held various posts, including York City FC and a local golf course. “He’s in charge of the outfield and is as keen as mustard to be a


great groundsman. I can’t speak too highly of him,” says Vic. Loving his part as a team player is volunteer Johnny Connolly. “He’s a great lad, who doesn’t let learning difficulties impede his work here twice a week.” The old issue of work/life balance is seldom far from Vic’s thoughts. “A working week of eighty to ninety hours was common, but groundsmen can have another life now.” “We do enjoy more time off these days - 22 days, mostly in the off-season, and Bank


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