Homepage Club News Diary The Club Ground Memory Lane Club History 1st XI 1st XI Fixtures 2nd XI 2nd XI Fixtures Sunday XI Fixtures Who's Who Committee Cricket Force ... Winter Nets Club Shop Junior Cricket Under 10 Under 11 Under 13 Under 15 Under 17 Junior Fixtures Junior Coaches Junior News Quiz Junior Team Selection Senior Team Selection Sponsorship Barrow Town CC Under 11's Season 2007 Junior News Links Cricket Equipment Find Us How To Find Other Grounds Contact Us Clubmark Development Plan Thoughts From The Groundsman Freds World Fixture Secs Quiz Answers Code of Conduct U10 Fixtures U11 Fixtures U13 Fixtures Under 15 Fixtu... U17 Fixtures Andy Wright's Blog Barrow Shield U15 Competition U7 to U10 Player Develop Building On The Start U8 to U12 U12 to U15 Transition From Junior To Senior Player Player Development Conclusion Player Development Clubforce Message Cricket Force ... Under 15 Test 1st XI 2nd XI Clubforce 2008 CLUBFORCE2 Report CF2008 U13MR1804 U13MR2004 U13MR0405 U13MR1805 Results U11MR0205 U11MR0905 U13 v Outwoods U13 v Outwoods2 Pro 10

Thoughts From The Groundsman

BTCC

AFTER THE LAST BALL IS BOWLED AND BEFORE THE NEW SEASON STARTS.Last season finished in late September with our playing surface much the worse for wear. A result of the 60 home games but more so the effects of the horrendous wet summer.To play at all last season, you will recall we covered wickets for days and weeks on end with the consequence that 5 wickets were totally ruined with no viable grass growth. It’s normal to have to repair the bare ends of wickets at the end of each season but to repair 5 complete strips was something I had not experienced for many years.We scarified the whole of the square in two directions both to remove residual thatch but also to provide a good key for re-seeding. The 5 bare wickets were deep scarified with a Graden machine that removes thatch and soil to 15 - 25mm. Our square at Barrow contains little thatch but vast quantities of debris were removed(ask George who wheel barrowed most of it to the bottom corner) and with the wickets prepared in this way I used a mechanised seeder in two directions before top dressing with Boughton loam. We used nearly 4 tonne of loam and within 10 days the seed was starting to show.I kept cutting the square until late November and applied autumn /winter fertiliser 4: 0: 8 + 4Fe finally putting the square to bed for the year!Before our new season starts the square is kept trimmed because warmer wetter winters means that grass in the UK hardly stops growing, and turf diseases such as Fusarium and leaf spot are much more of a headache requiring a spray with the appropriate fungicide.Like the new grass I wake up about the beginning of March and check the roller starts and if our early spring weather permits; like to start rolling the square cross-ways firstly and then in the normal direction from wicket to wicket. By the time the first 2 or 3 strips are marked out and ready to play the whole playing surface will have had over 20 hrs of steady rolling. George Green is a specialist on the roller able to roll in curved lines and 2 strips at once without apparent effort and is prepared to give lessons to any would-be groundsman!!The mowers are serviced by ourselves mainly and despite the many hours of hard use we are able to get good results from both outfield and wicket mowers that are many years old.So if you see an old man sitting on a roller on your square wrapped up against the cold …headphones on …it’s only me getting things ready for the first ball bowled and praying for the summer sun!John Upton1st Feb 2008.

John Upton

Colin "George" Green

4

This website was created using MAGIX Website Maker
You will need the current version of Adobe Flash Player to view it.
Further information can be found at magix.info - the Multimedia Knowledge Community by MAGIX,
the market leader for music, photo, and video software.