CRICKET
At the end of 2019, there were 326 registered
participants from ages three to eighteen, of which forty percent were female. This was a
”
remarkable turnaround in numbers; from the brink of extinction to the equal, or better, of any cricket club in Northern Ireland
in Northern Ireland!” After a wicket is used, a light fertilisation using a 16:16:16 mix is used as it is “cheap and does the job.” The ends are seeded using Proseed 365 and seed spotter, or by Philip’s handmade dimpler, and then levelled up with GOSTD 125 loam.
Philip said: “My dad is a great help. When I’m busy with international cricket at Stormont, he takes up most of the slack and prepares the wickets at Holywood and only really leaves the marking and cutting the square to me.”
“Presentation of an international cricket square is a top priority and it’s no different for my club ground. End of season work starts with cutting the square down to 4mm and this usually means three passes and a lot of brown bins being filled.” “A light scarification with the Sisis MK5 in two directions precedes the main passes by the Sisis SR600 set at a depth of around 5mm depending on hardness of the square. The thought of getting the hose out to water the whole square scares me!”
“Three bags of Proseed 365 are applied and brushed into the grooves, and then fifty bags of GOSTD 125 are added using a Sisis Truspread over the seven wickets and finally dragmatted in.”
“The ends are then levelled before one bag of 16:16:16 fertiliser is applied. After that, all there is to do is rope off the square in an effort to keep the footballers off.” “Winter aeration starts six weeks later using the Groundsman 345HD and I aim to spike monthly and fertilise with one bag of 6:5:10 each time. The fertiliser and seed we use is dictated by budget and obviously I’d like to replicate what I use at Stormont, but the seed germinates, the grass grows and the wickets are good, so I can’t really complain.”
“Our weather patterns are definitely changing. There has only been one good summer in the last three. Wetter summers with extremely heavy downpours and warmer winters seem to be the norm now,” said Philip.
The team at Holywood Cricket Club occasionally take soil cores to check root depth but have never checked what’s in the clay. The long-term project at the club would be to have a specific practice area with astro and turf wickets for youth and senior cricket. When it comes to investing in machinery at the club any purchase is, of course, dependent on budgets.
Philip said: “Three years ago we got a grant approved for the scarifier and aerator which we had to have to prepare the pitches
What’s in the shed?
Sisis MK5 scarifier Lloyds Paladin pedestrian mower Stothert & Pitt roller
Groundsman 345 HD aerator Waterhog water collector
Holywood Cricket Academy
From a historic low point in 2016 of only twenty or so registered children, the junior section of Holywood Cricket Club has expanded enormously in number and range.
At the end of 2019, there were 326 registered participants from ages three to eighteen, of which forty percent were female. This was a remarkable turnaround in numbers; from the brink of extinction to the equal, or better, of any cricket club in Northern Ireland.
This respectable achievement was only reached through engagement with various schools. The club now has in-school delivery of cricket for between six to ten weeks to more than 1,500 children and twelve schools.
The club is very popular with female 88 PC June/July 2020
players and has four all girls teams - the only cricket club in Northern Ireland to have this - which gives it a significant advantage to attract and inspire young female players. The girls still play on mixed boys and girls teams, but now they have single gender teams too, playing against boys’ teams.
In order to develop the large numbers of kids, the club has created a coaching academy to deliver technical development to the junior players. Led by former Irish International James Shannon, NCU coach Mike Grossett and Holywood lead coaches John Hunter, Emma McCay and Philip Wilson, the Holywood Cricket Academy runs all year round at partner schools of Sullivan Upper and Rockport, as well as at the home ground of Seapark.
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