Foreword Articles
More than just a magazine - Issue 128 - Editor's Foreword
07 September 2026
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Sporting pressure at its peak - Issue 127 - Editor's Foreword
As I write, we are in the midst of a huge summer of sport - FIFA World Cup, Wimbledon, The Open Championship and T20s to name just a few.
July and August stand out as the most demanding months in the sporting calendar, and with that comes a level of scrutiny and expectation that few outside the industry fully appreciate. Surfaces are expected to deliver consistently at the very highest level, day after day, often with little or no recovery time.
Each tournament brings its maximum global audience:
- World Cup audiences in the billions
- Wimbledon globally televised
- Major cricket series in prime summer slots
This leads to:
- Increased criticism
- Limited tolerance for natural variability
- Surfaces judged instantly - often without context
For groundstaff, this is the period where skill, experience and judgement are tested to the limit. The balancing act between performance and durability is never more delicate, and yet the demand for perfection has never been higher. In many cases, the achievement is not simply in meeting expectations, but in maintaining safe, high‑quality playing conditions under relentless pressure and circumstances that are, at times, beyond anyone’s control.
I was particularly disappointed to hear the criticism directed at the Lord’s surface during the 1st Test. An unusually hot and dry May, followed by a spell of wetter weather immediately before the Test, created a perfect storm of conditions that made it extremely difficult to achieve the consistency expected at a venue like Lord’s.
Constructive reflection is essential, but so too is an appreciation of the complexity of modern pitch management and the skill required to deliver world‑class surfaces under increasingly unpredictable conditions - if only we could get the pundits and players to understand this.
Take pride: because without all your hard work, none of it happens!
Kerry
t: 07973 394037
e: kerry.haywood@pitchcare.com
