SUMMER SPORTS CRICKET PREPARATIONS
To help visualise and give more insight into the maintenance work Thomas undertakes on the cricket wicket, I asked him to break down his routine, starting with pre-season and what preparations he undertakes leading up to a match.
“During winter, I will cut the square when required at 22mm and I will try to aerate two to three times with the Groundsman Industries spiker. Pre-season, I will drop the height of cut to 18mm, ready for rolling using the heavy roller; I try and do fi ve passes. As the cricket season approaches, I will drop the height of cut to 14mm ready for wicket preparations over the next fourteen days.”
Day one
• Brush and cut down to 10mm
• Thin out with a rake, scarifi er or verti-cut
• Brush and cut at 10mm • Water the wicket
• 20 minute roll x 2, with a 30 plus minute break between passes
Day two • Brush and cut at 10mm
• Carry on thinning out with the brush
• Brush and cut at 10mm • Water the wicket
• 20 minute roll x 3, with a 30 plus minute break between passes
Day three • Brush and cut at 10mm
• Carry on thinning out with the brush (only if I feel it is needed)
• Brush and cut at 8mm • Water the wicket
• 20 minute roll x 3, with a 30 plus minute break between passes
Day four
• 30 minute roll x 3, with a 30 plus minute break between the passes
Day fi ve • Brush and cut at 8mm Day six • Brush and cut at 8mm
• 30 minute roll x 3, with a 30 plus minute break between passes (start slowing the speed down)
Day seven • Brush and cut at 8mm
• Carry on thinning out with a brush (only if I feel it is needed)
• Brush and cut at 8mm • Water the wicket if needed
• 30 minute roll x 2, with a 30 plus minute break between passes
Day eight • Brush and cut at 8mm Day nine • Brush and cut at 8mm
• 30 minute roll x 3, with a 30 minute break between passes
Day ten • Brush and cut at 7mm
• Thinning out for the fi nal time with the brush
• 30 minute roll x 3, with a 30 minute break between passes
Day eleven • Brush and cut at 7mm
• 30-minute roll x 3 (at a crawl), with a 30 minute break between passes
Day twelve • Brush and cut at 7mm Day thirteen
• Brush and cut at your match height between 2-6mm
• 30 minute roll x 2 (at a crawl), with a 30 minute break between the passes
• Mark out the wicket Day fourteen (matchday)
• Brush and cut at your match height between 4-6mm
• Roll between 7 and 14 minutes x 2
“I found the best results are with six hours plus of rolling on a wicket; the above plan is a minimum. During the playing season, the outfi eld is cut at a height of 15mm then rises to a height of 30mm in winter and it’s spiked when it is fi t to do so.”
tennis all-year-round. Ours goes up in September and comes down in March and it’s similar to the infl atable domes you occasionally see at Premier League football clubs. I feel it has been a good investment; these courts have the potential to be booked out from 8.00am to 10.00pm every night, with the fl oodlights beaming through the canvas - it’s a great way for that section to make extra money.” The investment does not stop there though. Thomas continued: “In the next two to fi ve years, we are looking to build a new clubhouse. The current facilities are starting to get dated, and during that process, we will also look into potentially relaying fourteen wickets on the square. At the minute, we have twenty-four wickets; one half is for senior
cricket and the other half is focused on junior cricket, but they are going to look to swap it around which will mean senior cricket has a more suffi cient boundary. The square surface has been down for one hundred and forty years - it has suffi cient depth, but some of the wickets are just starting to become a bit dull and lifeless, so they are in much need of rejuvenating.” “After speaking to a couple of contractors, they believe we could Koro the top one or two inches off , before rotavating the surface to decompact the subsoil and stone bury it, followed by the laser grader. Next, we will apply fresh loam - layer by layer - and laser grade it again to give us the correct levels.” “The new clubhouse
development was due to start State-of-the-art dome
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PC April/May 2021
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