Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare

and then rolled for twenty
minutes for subsequent
rolling days, with no more
than three hours of total
rolling carried out for each
pitch prepared), covering and
cutting.
The club have invested in a
number of covers, both flat
and raised, to protect the
wickets. These include three
85 x 50 feet TTS Climate
Covers, two sets of raised
covers (with side sheets) to
protect match wickets and net
areas. Having manageable
sheets and covers is essential
in the modern game.
With just twenty wickets on
the square allocation for
matches is crucial. The
central twelve are used for
first class matches, and two of
these have to be set aside for
international games, leaving
just ten to accommodate an
ever increasing fixture list.
This means that Paul has to
make the wickets last as long
as possible. For example, the
wicket used for the Twenty20
game against Yorkshire had
already had three games -
two 50 over A Internationals
and another Twenty20 -
played on it.
Pitch repairs are, therefore,
essential and Paul Taylor has
perfected a robust method
using, perhaps surprisingly,
Kaloam. This is mixed into a
solution of water and Permazyme,
a bonding agent
developed by Flicx Cricket.
300ml of Perma-zyme is
diluted into 20 litres of water
and the loam is mixed into a
tacky mass and left to air for
a couple of hours before
being bagged for use. The
Perma-zyme helps bond the
soil particles together, giving
it more strength. The
damaged foot holes are then
chiselled out to create a key
for the new loam mix and
then tampered down. This
method has proved very
successful. As soon as a pitch
is finished with, usually after
four or five matches, it is
soaked up, scarified in several
directions and sown with R9
perennial rye grass. It is
covered to speed up
germination.
With the square
approaching somewhere near
the standard that Paul wants,
he will now turn his attention
to the outfield which, he
admits, is some way behind
other county grounds. It
needs to have a pop up
watering system installed,
along with some work to
address levels and
undulations. Paul hopes that
this work will happen in the
not too distant future.
On the following pages, we
Tried and
Trusted...
The Climate Cover System TM
- still the only proven
waterproof breathable cover!
“We have been using the Climate Cover System TM for the
past five years and with great success. We protect all our
cricket surfaces with it because we know that grass plant
is encouraged and because we can trust them to keep
things dry. The Ashes test of 2009 was a real challenge for
us with all the bad weather and without our Climate Covers
it would have been much harder. To put it simply; I can
trust the covers, they are brilliant!” - Steve Rouse, Head
Groundsman, Warwickshire CCC, Edgbaston
Maintenance
Enhance the lifespan of you
Climate Cover System TM with one
of our maintenance packages
Branding
A great opportunity for
sponsorship
exposure and revenue
Telephone: 01604 750 555 Email: info@climatecover.co.uk Website: www.climatecover.co.uk
Climate Cover Ltd, PO Box 250, Northampton, NN5 5WZ
follow Paul and his team
through a typical day ahead
of the Northants Steelbacks v
Yorkshire Carnegie Friends
Provident Twenty20 match - a
game with a
surprising twist in the
tail!
As supplied to Northampton CCC
Climate Cover Ltd exclusively
supplies the following range of
unique covering solutions:
Total Growth Cover
(TGC)
Frost protection and
germination cover
Rain Cover
Premium
translucent PVC
waterproof cover
Bio-cell
Temperature
controlled airflow,
heats and protects.
Cricket Pitch
Tunnel
A Solid Air Structure
Mobile
Pitch Cover
Flexibility and value
for money
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