Gardening - its Just not Cricket

Now, I love to play cricket, but have the unenviable task of looking after our clubs ground. I believe that pitchcare or Turf management are the official descriptions of  the work needed to keep a sporting pitch ready for use. This provides a number of challenges.

A turf wicket block is a significant investment and like any major cost club asset, requires frequent maintenance in order to keep it in good order.

Then of course we have to deal with the Laws of cricket. Law 10 of these lays out rules covering the preparation and maintenance of the playing area. You are probably familiar with the Law around rolling the pitch. The captain of the batting side can ask that the pitch be rolled before the start of each innings and before the start of each days play ( time of rolling limited to maximum 7 minutes).

So what are the major pitch worries for an amateur groundsman?

I try not to produce a green pitch ( this is where the grass is longer than usual) which favours bowlers as we are a strong bowling side and do not need the help. However, I am sure a professional cricketer would call all our pitches green, we just do not have a flat enough or weed free enough pitch to get a really close cropped surface.

One of my concerns is the lack of layering in our pitch. . Layering causes shallow root development, uneven dampness , and reduces bounce and pace. Its caused by adding the sort of good organic material that grass loves to have in order to thrive, so there is a conflict there. Vibrating rollers also cause layering and these are an absolute no no on the pitch.

We have a problem with weeds, everything from the common daisy to a local outbreak of the dreaded Japanese Knotweed near the pavilion.

Finally repairing the footmarks, we all have our favourite blend of soil, sand and binder, if you have a good recipe for this or any pitch tips please post it and help all of us.