Magazine - Roll on Summer

30 Mar 2006 by asif555

How long a wicket should be rolled before a limited over game?

31 Mar 2006 by suckers

Excuse my ignorance - I'm mainly a cricket player but work on the committee and an annual debate is when/how much to roll, especially on the outfield - we share with Rugby during the winter! My question - what do you mean by "We roll to a depth of two and a half inches dry down"?

31 Mar 2006 by Anthony Asquith

Hi

When Talking of Pre-Season consolidation the KEY is to ensure Soils don`t dry out of their own accord

Due to the climatic conditions in the UK ie Rain we`ll need to release trapped water in the structure by creating a vaccum effect !

If pitches dry out too early you`ll have problems all season unless some sort of Pre-season rolling is carried out once soils are Miable and plastic

What you are looking for

All aggregation and Air pockets will be smoothed out by the action of rolling untill the soil reaches it`s full binding strength

Ofcourse the strength of the roots is essential as this`ll hold the structure together and pump out excess moisture

It`s imperative to roll with the correct roller and at the correct moisture state or problems could occur !

Without a pre-season rolling programme Soils will De-stabalize and crack

What you want is a 4-5" Coherant block of clay that`ll withstand several days play and doesn`t Crumble or break up too Early

Without a rolling programme the above won`t occur !

31 Mar 2006 by asif555

I have bermuda grass on center pitch and on practice pitches. In Southern california , the bermuda grass becomes dormant and you see very little grass on the pitches. Should I still roll what is called a preseason rolling or wait untill the grass comes out of dormacy? I am a medical doctor and do not have experience, however have built my own true cricket field in Southern California, to my knowledge , the only one in US.

31 Mar 2006 by suckers

Thank you Anthony.

We've often experienced deep/wide cracks in the summer - outfield only - and there's evidence of layering (low bounce and moving top 1" or so) on the wicket so having had our 2 squares relaid last Autumn we're keen to get it right for the future.

I have a better understanding of what to aim for but I guess your point about the right roller (not too heavy?) at the right time (not too wet/dry) is the subjective bit we'd best leave to our groundsman. At least we can have a constructive dialogue about it now.

Thanks again.