Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare

Life can be tough when
budgets are tight, but
even tougher when
premium playing
surfaces are demanded
across the board. Tom
James meets a man who
walks a fine line to
satisfy differing
sporting priorities
Demain man!
“I’M a great believer in the power of
nature to regenerate, and in turf ’s ability
to come back to life.” Head groundsman
Vic Demain voiced these sentiments
whilst gazing out over a baked, brown
expanse at Uxbridge Cricket Club,
currently Middlesex County Cricket
Club’s number one outground.
Vic has witnessed such sights before -
when the playing surface turns ‘white’ -
and he knew that the four days of rain
forecasted following my visit to him in
July would prove the remedy for the
parched playing surface.
Vic’s sanguine approach reflects his
generally more relaxed stance towards
his daily task of managing the sometimes
conflicting demands of, what is, a multisport
venue.
Passion for his job and a quest for
excellence under trying circumstances
had conspired to create an inner tension,
he reveals, but insists he is “far calmer
about things now. I don’t let the job get
to me as much as it once might have
done.”
He then expands on his earlier
reflection. “I never cease to be amazed
by the power of grass to compensate. It’s
84
an amazing species. When times are
tough, it shuts itself down and just ticks
over until conditions improve.”
One reason, perhaps, why grass, in one
form or another, has populated virtually
every square metre possible on the
planet.
Vic is now in his fifth season at
Uxbridge, having joined in 2006. Before
coming into the post, he had enjoyed a
multifaceted career, coming into turfcare
with “passion but little experience”, he
confesses.
“I’d worked as a painter and decorator
for many years but, once the housing
industry slumped, I decided to apply for
jobs in groundsmanship. I had little
hands-on knowledge or experience but
had enthusiasm in droves.”
He was lucky enough to land a
position at Ascott Park in
Buckinghamshire, a job he secured
thanks to the coaching qualifications he
had gained whilst still in the decorating
trade.
Joining there in 1996, he spent eight
seasons on, what is, the country estate of
financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. As
joyous as his arrival had been was the
shock and disappointment at the news
that his “over-zealous” estates manager
wanted to move towards a contractorbased
operation.
“They wanted to save money, so felt
that not employing a full-time
groundsman would help them do this - a
move I have always felt was a mistake on
their part,” he explains. Despite efforts
to save the position, the deed was done
and Vic moved on to work for Richard
Bryce (Sports Ground Services) Milton
Keynes for two seasons where he looked
after Campbell Park, a Northants
outground.
Vic moved to the position of Head
Groundsman at Uxbridge Cricket Club
in 2006, and can now claim to be one of
the club’s longest-serving groundsmen.
That fact, in itself, conceals the reality
that a high staff turnover has
characterised the club over the years.
“It’s a challenging club to work at,”
says Vic candidly, “given the scope of
provision here, which includes not only
cricket but also tennis, bowls and rugby.”
A major issue in that legacy has been a
lack of continuity in club chairmen, Vic
contests. “That’s made decision-making