The first track I cut and prepared this season was on or about the end of March beginnining of April the game was played early April and the track played well, pre season game, good dry weather and about 500 runs in 100 overs, plus 16 or so wickets. I repaired the track, overseeded, dressed out etc, then came several nights of heavy frosts. The grass has not re grown the wicket has looked dead all season and is very prone to weed and poa. Its not a pitch that I need being near to the edge of the square but I feel It needs some special care and attention any ideas?
A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother
Tony
Had three tracks this season that have been overseeded and topdressed none of them are any good, im having to soak seed and attend to small areas on hands and knees to get them playable and with the wet summer we have had i would have expected new grass to flourish.
Has anything been fertilised ?
My repairs this season have gone better than ever. The weather in West London has been great for germination, particularly the last month. Would get some holes in it and reseed Tony. If it doesn't come back, might need to look at your seed.
Thanks for the replies gentlemen much appreciated but is there some correlation with the heavy frosts, i've never experienced this before but they seem to have killed the track, as much as I do doesn't seem enough and ive tried a lot.
A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother
Frost, no.
Grass has been used to the cold for millenia.
Look for another explanation
I'm with Ascott. Warm and wet = good take.
The ciderman rolls
bath
I believe from previous posts you plant seed, myself i sarrell spike and broadcast seed with not good results could this be the difference
Sarrell spiking creates lots of little holes that seed should be brushed into. Brush a dusting of loam over/into these holes to keep good soil to seed contact and keep well watered, not flooded but damp untill seed germinates. Cover area with germination sheet to keep pidgeons off and damp in. Should be up and growing within a week, sometimes four to five days.
I actually have some new plant appearing during this wetter weather and that was planted a month ago, so keep trying. Have to agree with Ascott and jontaylor above. Great weather for germinating seed.
The growing crowns of cricket grass seed are under the surface so I don't understand why your original grass hasn't grown through irrespective of your overseeding etc. You said that it was only used for one game and I think that it should have recovered with minimal attention.
I think your problem may be something to do with last year's renovation/seed.
Personally, as you've put up with it so far this season, I would leave it 'till renovation time, then treat the same as the rest of the square.
Presentation is the name of the game.
I too have had problems with germination this year. The problem stems quite simply from letting the grass seed (or young grass) dry out. With the amount of games we've had at times it has been simply impossible to keep seed moist. Some tracks have come back fine some haven't.
Of course I've taken some flak from various members for this. The answer is actually very simple - you need something to protect the overseeded areas so that moisture can be retained until such a time as the new plant is able to survive. Let it dry out and invariably it doesn't germinate well if at all.
Simply mentioning the word money to the offending members seems to shut them up dpq.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
With the weather we have had this July I have manage to get all my used strip ends reseeded. With the seed used to for our renevation work in September the strips have recovered well.
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Many moons ago i spoke to a well respected soil scientists at a well known Uni in Wales.
His advice was only use a pitch once, that is when it has been cut, watered and rolled for the first time use that pitch until it has gone to pot.
I have stuck to his advice.
A pitch should take 5 games with no problem.
Which means i use no seed, soil and very little water in the playing season.
Trying to establish grass in the playing season is very difficult and to be honest a waste of time.
11 Aug 2009 by mario
I use my pitches until they are completely shot. Ok I accept that I have a 14 pitch square. I never renovate during the season waiting until a full renovation at the end of the season.
When the firsts, seconds, T20 and junior matches are played on them they are still in decent enough nick for Tuesday and Thursday evening practice sessions.
I know no boundaries.
Agree, prepare then play them till they're done. Between 4 and 6 senior games, then use them for midweek training until the next track is finished with.
The difference is, I then repair the ends up to about mid August as these will be pretty well established before renovation time. I think unrepaired ends left all summer look pretty rubbish. I don't do much if anything with the main playing area. I keep half a sack of seed back from the previous autumn and about 2 bags loam per track (includes enough to do foothole repairs between matches).
The ciderman rolls
Is that 4 to 6 senior games over a week or 4 to 6 six weeks jontaylor ?
My pitches are made to last for 2 weekends, then finished with and like jontaylor I repair normally until August but this season will continue repair all through.
12 Aug 2009 by pacman75cricket
My pitches I try to last 2 weekends & then repair ends ideally but just not had window in the last month with nights drawing & having to pick up cutting outfield (not usually my re-mit).
Think germination can be achieved during the playing season depending on conditions.
Between 4 and 6 games - typically 3 weekends. I only have to cope with about 40 matches a season so have a little more freedom than the big clubs.
The ciderman rolls
In my case, i prepare a new 22yd wicket for every Saturday league game, seconds as well. That wicket then does all 22yd cricket during the following week, finishing most weeks with senior centre wicket practice on a Thursday evening.
I should add, it is then renovated ready to use again approx 9 to 10 weeks later. If i played a wicket any longer, it would dry so much that it loses most of its bounce.
12 Aug 2009 by mario
Pitch my dear Gordon ........PITCH NOT WICKET !!!!!! LOL
I know no boundaries.
I try and put out a 'new' pitch for every Saturday then use on Sunday (as 95% of our Sunday games are at home).
Although this week the 2nds are at Home and will have the same track as last week because the Sunday game was cancelled due to the opposition taking part in a 20/20 tournament.
I have a 9 track square but due to boundary restrictions can only really use 5 for League cricket, stretched it to pitch 6 on a couple of occasions.
Been doing this since 1985 and appear to 'get away with it' .
So if we played every League game (22) then obviously every pitch would get used 4.5 times, but with the usual 2/3 cancellations taht would be 4 times.
But obviously if a track plays really well I have on occasions used a pitch for up to 4-6 consecutive matches (2-3 weekends).
What goes around, comes around
Yes, i get my lathe out, cut down another tree trunk and !!!!!! pitch.
13 Aug 2009 by olaf
same pitch for about six days, repair , back later in season.
only got ten. 80 plus days including four day games and ODI's. piece of p**s.
Ok so it's flat mud, nice flat mud though.
players don,t give a stuff and I'd rather have a beer than work as well.
easy life.
surfs up
happy days.......
Some people are like Slinky's, totally useless but amusing if you push them down the stairs
Did one in the middle for an u 16 game (Important) 2 days 102 overs per day, or more if they could get them in.
Lots of runs and wickets. Then it was used by 2s on Saturday and a district u 15 game on Tues.
No game this weekend (Well,4Th's on another used 'un)
but the surface is really good and flat so I don't know if I should repair the foot holes, block holes etc and use it next weekend for the 1St's or put it to bed for the season. Might repair it and early next week offer the skipper a choice but with 3 1st team games to come it might be prudent to keep it going as it has played very well.
Tha's right "Mario" Cricket Pitch!!!!
Chris
"He not busy being born is busy dying"
Hi all,
must be about 6 or 7 years ago, the cricket manager at the club i was working for was a former England fast bowler in the 90's,( injury forced early retirement),the club lacked a good seam attack, so it's strength was in the spin department.
I prepared a pitch for the seconed home league game of the season, this pitch was used for 5 home league games.
The club went on to win the league.
The present England opener was starting his career.
A good pro knows his stuff.
It would have been handy to have known about PVA glue.
16 Aug 2009 by vid
Dear Bath be kind to Mario - since he moved north of the border he seems to have become confused - I know what you mean and I have always called them wickets not pitches and so have most of the people I have grown up with in cricket. What he calls a wicket I have always called stumps. Whatever the definition I'm sure this varies region to region and I'm glad someone else speaks from the same language base as myself, dont let yourself be changed!!
Thanks vid, your turn again Ken. Pitch, is that not really tar !!
16 Aug 2009 by mario
Ah, you refer to PITCH when you really mean TAR of course which is named after a Scotsman, one John McAdam, as in tarmacdam traditionally shortened to Tarmac.
Don't us 'sweaty socks' just get everywhere!!
I know no boundaries.
We just can't win!!
Mario you are dead right about a Cricket Pitch but slightly off re Tar.
McAdam didn't invent Tar it had been around for a thousand years before he was born. McAdam pioneered the use of mixing angular stone with tar to create a smooth hard surface for roads. Macadamisation.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmac.
"The wickets will be pitched etc etc"
So there!!!!!LOL
"He not busy being born is busy dying"
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