Surrey Cricket Groundsman's Association Mini Clinic
The Surrey Cricket Groundsman's Association held its second 'mini clinic' at the Guildford Cricket Club on Tuesday afternoon. The event was attended by over thirty Groundsmen from cricket clubs, schools and local authorities.
Bill Clutterbuck, Head Groundsman at Woodbridge Road, treated us by working through a series of repairs to the county pitch on which Surrey had recently played Essex.
Foot-hole repairs were followed by full renovation of the pitch. Thorough scarification was followed by seeding, fertilising and a very light top dressing of Surrey (of course!) loam. Bill's skill in dressing the pitch by hand - ''a shovel doesn't give you any of the mechanical problems those new dresser's can''- with barely half a barrow-load of dressing was an eye opener for some of the youngsters. A light watering, cover with a germination sheet - job done. Usually this would be completed first thing on a Monday with the germination sheet being removed on Saturday morning. Generally germination can be achieved over this period of time. Bill then went on to show us the early stages of preparation on one of his first class pitches.
Sisis Equipment was used, with the Sisis 602 complete with collection box, undertaking the scarifying, followed by the Auto-Rake fitted with a brush attachment and collection box giving an additional clean of the surface. The machines worked together in perfect harmony and are definitely the tools for this procedure. Thank you John and Russ for providing the two machines.
Ed Stoddart, from Stuart Canvas, demonstrated the new lightweight Pro-tech cover. A three- pitch (30ft x 80ft) Pro-tech can easily be handled by one man. Considering that many of us have been dragging heavy flat sheet covers around for years, it came as no surprise that a lot of interest was shown in this product! In addition to its lightweight construction, this new cover is also of the 'breathable' type and can be left down longer without sustaining damage to the grass.
The Pro-Tec light weight cover from Stuart Canvas (left)
Chris Rudkin, from our perennial supporters, Sherriff Amenity, was in attendance and even ran out of catalogues such was the demand.
A Sisis 602 scarifier was ordered and will be available for hire to all Surrey Cricket Clubs, schools etc. along with our Graden scarifier and Mete-R-Matic self propelled top dresser. Contact the Surrey Cricket Groundsman's Association for further details.
Finally thank you to Guildford CC and Bill Cluterbuck for hosting the event and to our supporters Sisis, Stuart Canvas and Sherriff Amenity for a thoroughly instructive afternoon.