Top Tips: Preparing cricket pitches in an age of extremes

Spend five minutes talking to a head groundsman at the top of the game and one thing becomes immediately clear: there are no shortcuts. For Gary Barwell, Head Groundsman at Edgbaston, that’s a hard-earned truth.

Cricket pitches don’t just happen. They’re planned, nurtured, protected and, quite often, worried over.

Recently, we caught up with Gary - the current Head Groundsman (Head of Sports Turf) at Edgbaston Stadium, home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club (Edgbaston) - to talk through how he approaches pitch preparation in what he describes as a “world of extremes.”

From volatile weather and rising disease pressure to tightening budgets and broadcast scrutiny, his advice is grounded, practical and refreshingly honest.

Here are Gary’s top tips for turf managers looking to stay one step ahead.

Get ahead of the weather - don’t chase it

“We live in a world of extremes now,” says Gary. “Years ago, you worked to seasons. Now, you’re reacting to constant change.”

His approach is simple but disciplined: aim to have pitches virtually ready a day or two earlier than planned.

“For me, you want that pitch almost there one or two days before,” he explains. “You can always hold back. If you’re trying to chase it at the end, it becomes a really tricky situation. If you’re chasing the weather, you’re already in trouble.”

Gary works to a rolling 14-day plan, always aiming to be ahead rather than reacting late. Experience plays a huge role here - understanding which areas dry first, which hold moisture and how the square responds under pressure.

“In prolonged wet spells, we’ll change tactics,” he says. “That might mean covering earlier than usual if conditions demand it. You’ve got to adapt.”

Gary’s Top Tips

• Plan to be early, not on time
  Work to a rolling 14-day plan and aim to have pitches virtually ready one to two days ahead. You can always hold back - catching up is far harder.
• Know your square inside out
  Experience matters. Understand which areas dry first, which hold moisture and how your site reacts in extreme conditions.
• Preparation is non-negotiable
  Map your square at the start of the season. Number pitches, track historical behaviour and keep clear records to stay flexible when conditions change.
• Look after the grass - it’s doing the hard work
  Healthy turf creates pace, bounce and stability. Support recovery with balanced nutrition, moisture management and careful rolling.
• Build resilience into your disease strategy
  With limited fungicide options, focus on strengthening the plant through nutrition, moisture control and biostimulants rather than reacting late.
• Be realistic about sustainability
  Focus on practical improvements that genuinely work - efficient water use, smarter applications and appropriate machinery - not just buzzwords.
• Communicate and back your team
  Explain decisions, provide context and remember: behind every pitch is a person. Resilience and leadership matter as much as technical skill.

Planning isn’t optional

“Preparation is the biggest key to what we do,” Gary says. “Without it, we’re stuffed.”

If there’s one theme that runs through his approach, it’s unapologetic planning.

“Everything I do is about planning and understanding,” he explains. “If you plan to the finer detail, when something out of the ordinary happens, you can actually deal with it.”

Gary knows his square inside out.

“I can tell you what pitch we’re using, when the screens go up and what’s happening on a specific date,” he says. “That way, when a wet day hits, you’re dealing with the wet day - not everything else as well.”

His advice is clear: map out your square at the start of the season. Number pitches, record historical behaviour and keep notes. Whether it’s written down or stored mentally, that information is invaluable.

This level of planning creates flexibility - and in modern cricket, flexibility is essential.

Grass is your biggest ally

“Grass is my biggest friend on a cricket pitch,” Gary says. “That sounds obvious, but everything we do to it is technically killing it.”

Healthy grass underpins everything.

“I need the plant to repair the pitch for me,” he explains. “It creates pace and bounce, stops cracking and keeps the square together.”

Gary likens pitch preparation to baking an apple pie.

“If one ingredient is out, the end result suffers,” he says. “Healthy grass, balanced moisture, good rooting and strong soil structure all have to be in place before you start pushing the pitch.”

At Edgbaston, that means:

• Compressing rolling schedules without increasing total hours
• Brushing grass back up nightly during rolling
• Applying seaweed to support plant recovery
• Fertilising immediately once pre-season rolling is complete

The goal is a resilient plant that can withstand stress - and recover quickly.

Be proactive with disease

“The challenge with disease isn’t knowing what to do,” Gary says. “It’s knowing what you can afford to do.”

Disease pressure varies between squares and outfields, and budgets inevitably shape decision-making.

“Give me an unlimited budget and I’ll tell you exactly how to treat it,” he says. “The challenge is doing it when you haven’t got one.”

With regulatory changes limiting fungicide options, Gary focuses on strengthening the turf rather than simply reacting to outbreaks.

“Nutrition, moisture control and biostimulants all have a role to play,” he explains.

At Edgbaston, red thread on outfields and fusarium on squares are monitored closely. Where possible, Gary favours a proactive approach - but he’s also realistic and open to trialling alternative methods when resources are tight.

Sustainability needs substance, not buzzwords

“Sustainability is one of those words everyone uses,” Gary reflects. “You’ve got to really deep dive into whether something is genuinely better or just sounds good.”

Communicate your story

“Behind every pitch is a person,” Gary says - a motto he feels is sometimes forgotten in turfcare.

With televised sport comes scrutiny, and pitches are rarely out of the spotlight.

“My responsibility is to the game,” he explains. “If no one’s talking about the pitch, you’ve probably done your job.”

His advice is simple: communicate.

“Talk to coaches, officials and broadcasters. Explain conditions, challenges and decisions,” he says. “Context matters. In turfcare, if something’s been done, it’s normally for the betterment of the surface.”

Resilience, he believes, is just as important as technical knowledge.

“You’ve got to be able to take criticism, stand your ground and still back your people,” Gary says. “Understanding people and leading - not just managing - that’s what keeps teams strong.”

Gary is clear-eyed about what sustainability means in practice.

“If a product is genuinely more sustainable and performs better, we’ll buy it,” he says. “If it isn’t, we won’t pretend.”

Rather than chasing headlines, Gary recommends focusing on incremental gains: electric machinery, smarter water use, efficient applications.

“True sustainability has to stack up environmentally and operationally,” he adds.