Earning his Spurs - Pitchcare

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Irrigation
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Cricket
GOING DUTCH III
Andy Atkinson and Alan Hurst
from the ICC with Frits Makkee
and officials of VCC inspecting
the square
The final chapter in
Mel Pooley’s Dutch
extravaganza, where
ODI status is eventually
given to the new
square at Voorburg
Cricket Club
Dateline summer 2009
To continue with my quest to
complete the training for the Dutch
groundsmen, I have been keeping
in touch with Frits Makkee and I
have agreed to deliver the autumn
renovation and winter maintenance
course at the end of the season at
Voorburg CC.
I have also been monitoring the
new square at Voorburg using
modern technology, a web cam
that is focused on the square.
Photos and information sent over
by Frits, using email, have allowed
me to advise on the work being
carried out on the new square
since my last visit in April.
The new square has established
quite well but had some cracks
that were quite extensive. This, of
course, is quite common in the first
year of establishment. The grass
cover is good and, with some light
topdressing and watering, the
cracking was reduced.
The square at Voorburg is one
that has been identified for staging
the One Day International (ODI)
Division one games in July 2010,
subject to the facilities meeting the
required standards. I received an
email from Frits to inform me there
was to be an inspection of the
ground by Chris Broad, the ICC
match referee and dad of current
England player, Stuart, on the 27th
August 2009. With this in mind, I
booked a trip to Holland for the
week so that I could be on hand to
answer any questions regarding
the square.
My wife and I made the trip over
so that we could also have some
time together and have a bit of a
break. I must thank her for the
tolerance she has shown over the
last twenty-five years because, as
most groundsmen know, the
summer is spent at the cricket
ground and not taking holidays like
normal people do. It takes
someone special to be that
tolerant enabling me to achieve
the things I have been able to.
On the 25th August we drove to
Harwich to catch the day crossing
to Holland. This proved to be costly
for me as my wife decided she
would stock up with perfume from
the duty free shop on board -
maybe her tolerance levels had
worn a bit thin!
On Thursday the 27th we went
to the Voorburg ground to meet
with Chris Broad and
representatives of the KNCB. This
meeting proved satisfactory, with
the facilities meeting, and
exceeding, the required standards.
Of course, a decision could not
be made on the square as it had
not been played on, and there was
no way of making an assessment
at this time. I did explain the
construction of the square and my
thoughts on how it would be in
2010. Chris Broad recommended
that a further inspection would be
required in the early summer of
2010 to see how the square was
playing, and to make the final
decision then.
The square had a good even
grass coverage and I took some
core samples to see how well the
root had established. This was very
good, with roots at 170mm, and
the soil structure was becoming
established and had keyed
together very well. I was confident
that the square would be up to the
standard required for the ODI in
July 2010.
During my visit I arranged with
Tim De Leede to set up the autumn
course for the groundsmen on
Saturday 26th September 2009.
This meant that I would have to