CRICKET


I’m proud of what we


achieved, especially when you consider the deluge ahead of T20 finals (in October). It was amazing that we got it on and that it played so well


”


Significant investment in new machinery at Edgbaston has brought major renovations in-house and added flexibility which should improve pitch standards further


An SGL pitch lighting rig straddles two strips, bringing on grass seeds when the sun doesn’t shine!


For example, if we had a contractor booked in to overseed and it rained,


”


we’d have to go with the time we’d booked. Now, we can swap the jobs


around and do it in the best conditions


Equipment purchased has included specialist renovation machinery such as the Wiedenmann XF8 decompacter


56 PC April/May 2021


ground adjacent to the stadium. Gary and his team will be able to use windows in the schedule and work with the elements to keep the pitches performing throughout due to the investment in machinery. “Although we renovate the square ourselves, we’d always used contractors Fineturf for major works and the outfield and we got on with them well, but I wanted to explore what we would gain from having our own equipment,” he explains. “It was a big step and I needed to have the management on side. The difficulty that many grounds managers have is that they will simply say: ‘I need this machine because it does X and Y’.” Instead, he worked alongside the Edgbaston finance team’s Abraham Khan to look at the options and how they stacked up against using contractors. “We considered leasing or purchasing machinery, and the latter was preferred as it gives the business an asset. Abraham calculated that, by having our own machinery, we could save £2000 a year.”


Mike Wheeler at local dealer Farol was


key in helping seal the deal by advising on the right mix of machines, which includes some sixteen items of equipment from tractors to a scarifier (see what’s in the shed for a full list).


Specialist renovation equipment includes


a Vredo disc seeder, Koro Recycling Dresser and Wiedenmann GXi8 aerator, more commonly the tools of the contractor or hire company.


“I just wanted us to be more self- sufficient,” Gary explains. “For example, if we had a contractor booked in to overseed and it rained, we’d have to go with the time we’d booked. Now, we can swap the jobs around and do it in the best conditions.” “It also means we can try new approaches; previously, we’d go round the square with a Blotter if it had rained heavily, but why not try out the Pro Core to take advantage of the rain?” There’s also plenty of capacity to get jobs done in a timely way and to make better use of materials.


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