At Cricket World, we are well aware of the challenges and issues that Clubs face during a normal cricket season (I have played club cricket or been involved with club cricket for over 50 years), however, we are now going into unchartered waters with the COVID-19 Outbreak and the management of club and community facilities,both here in the UK and around the World. Over the coming weeks, we will be contacting the experts that will help you get through this time. We will be publishing Official Government Guidelines and more particularly some great tips from leading Groundcare experts.We managed to catch up with Karl McDermott, Head Groundsman at Lord’s, for some initial tips for clubs and this is what he had to say.
“If money is tight sit down with your club and prioritise. The square is the most important aspect of a cricket ground so don’t neglect it. The outfield will survive and recover, grass is an amazing plant! Have a clear plan of what potential spend you need, in these difficult times you don’t want to be going back to the treasurer with your begging bowl because you forgot to mention the grass seed or fertiliser! You need to be prepared to compromise, work together and be realistic.
Think how you can improve things culturally eg drag brushing the dew off, cutting in the dry to give you a better quality of cut, ensure blades are cutting well and not ‘bruising’ the leaf, cutting with a cylinder mower instead of a rotary where possible. These will give you a healthier sward which will hopefully keep the disease at bay, reducing the cost of expensive fungicides or contractors coming in to spray.
If money to purchase fertiliser is tight think about putting it down at half rate. A little is better than nothing. This is also a consideration if you need to self-isolate for 14 days. By putting a feed down at half rate you won’t have that flush of growth.
Also......
Chat to your neighbouring club. Help each other out by sharing machinery, borrowing a spare bag of grass seed/fertiliser or just exchange ideas.
Hope that’s of some help.”
We will be regular touch with Karl and other Groundcare experts including Brian Sandalls (Turfcare Blog) throughout the coming weeks and months and we will be passing on lots of further tips and information. So, keep in touch and STAY SAFE.
Please use the form below to send in any queries you have on running your club, ground facilities and we will publish these and get the answers on our sections Cricket Ground care and Club Cricket Matters
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