Message Board - Cricket: wicket ends.
11 Jul 2010 by Nick Dalziel
any tips on how i can get my wicket ends to last a bit longer.after a couple of matches i am left with huge crators.
11 Jul 2010 by jontaylor
Moist cricket loam, compressed onto a moist base. Do it a few days before match and hand rub dry loam into cracks.
You must ensure laom is compressed - roll or tread or thump down.
Shallow repairs rarely take well, imo. But well done repairs are tougher than virgin ground.
The ciderman rolls
12 Jul 2010 by jlawrence
Nick, take a look here, this article covers a few different ways of doing repairs.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
12 Jul 2010 by eddyinfreehold
Superb article that. I wish I was able to repair tracks as well as ends as the season progresses. Only after July when the 4 junior teams finish is that possible.
One thing I would add is this. If you are using a hand held compactor to thump down on damp loam, it very often sticks and the loam gets pulled out again. I use ordinary kitchen baking parchment over the loam to avoid this problem. If you thump carefully it never tears and can be unpeeled to leave an even hard surface.
Good idea with the grass clippings to slow down drying and prevent cracking.
12 Jul 2010 by barry glynn
I use a large plasterers trowel when spreading the moist loam in. This works well as you can push down as well as spread the loam across and dribble some water onto the trowel if you need to to. I also now wet the cleaned out hole( I use a blower to do this), then score some lines across in a crisscross fashion and rub some seed into it before I put the moist loam on. I then cover it with some fresh pitch grass clippings.I add some seed the the moist loam mix. It might not take but every little helps. I think it is difficult to get ends to grow in season on a busy club square but at least this way I have no holes and dips.
I have also used a hand drill this year to create a seed bed when I am not using he pitch again for a while, laborious but does work a bit.
What do I do? I just cut the grass.
12 Jul 2010 by Mike
We started repairing wicket ends for the first time this year, and I relied heavily on the above articles to guide me through the early stages. Through trial and error, I have found my own way which seems to be working very well for me:
1. Soak footholes
2. Fork footholes
3. Remove excess water
4. Apply seed generously into footholes, ensuring some seed goes into holes left by the fork
5. Apply a thin layer of loam, with a small amount of wormcast and seed added to the footholes and spread, working into holes made by the fork
6. Apply a further layer of loam, spread and cover with an empty loam bag
7. 'Kneel in' loam to consolidate
8. Keep applying loam and'kneeling in' until slightly proud of the surface.
9. Use a tamp/thumper or whatever you want to call it to give final consolidation and level.
10. Spread grass clippings and keep repairs moist.
This is how I repaired 2 tracks used 3 weeks ago and we now have full grass cover and level repairs.
Mike
12 Jul 2010 by jlawrence
If I'm wanting the grass to grow in a repair then I'll never thump it down.
Thumping down is to create a rock hard repair which can be played on pretty much immediately - certainly by the time they've finished their tea.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
12 Jul 2010 by Grassman2011
Thump the seed in to the repair and keep moist jl, it will grow.
Eddy, why bother with baking paper or whatever ? most loam comes in plastic bags, use an emty one on top of the repair and thump down on that, perfect finish. If your loam comes as a loose load, then use a fertiliser bag instead. In fact, any old plastic bag or polythene sheet will do fine.
12 Jul 2010 by jlawrence
Keeping it moist is the hardest part - until this week it's been neigh on impossible. Now evening league sh1te is finished it's mass repair time for me - grass'll be up on the main ground by the weekend which means it'll have a fighting chance. Other ground repairs start next week after the last junior stuff this week.
I've never managed to get grass to grow on thumped down loam, though it should grow.
Of course there's no bounce, bend your back and put some bloody effort in.
![DM9cupfinal[1].jpg](http://media.pitchcare.com/A/gZUz7msYd1rgFEGbYdtt.jpg "DM9cupfinal[1].jpg")
12 Jul 2010 by Sunlover
I was way too aggressive with my thumper last season and it basically fell apart on me. Now I cover my repairs with dust and clippings and get out the heavy roller to flatten.
World Heavyweight Champ
14 Jul 2010 by Chris Thornton
Funny you should mention the "thumper" falling apart!
Mine cant fall apart but the handles snap like carrots.
If you don't thump it down exactly level the handle snap and over this season I have shown 3 other people how to do it and we have ALL broken them!!
So only today whilst passing an engineering firm I popped in and they said they will weld a piece of mild steel tube on for me!! That should sort the bugger!!
Meanwhile I think it is OK to use it on repairs that are not going to be used till next season providing the soil is just damp and mixed with lots of seed.
Chris
"He not busy being born is busy dying"
14 Jul 2010 by Sunlover
I also snapped the gearstick of my Ransoms 180D last year. Welded it back on and it snapped again. Had to weld a new steel rod along side the orignal gearstick. No problems since.
Mario gave me a lesson in foothole repairs when I popped into his shed last year during our game against Aberdeen. I got dismissed quickly so I could take my pads off and spend the rest of the afternoon checking out his stuff and talk grass.
World Heavyweight Champ
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