Earning his Spurs - Pitchcare

©BBC
Some people are
on the pitch ...
WHAT’S this, a
pitch invasion of
the hallowed Lord’s
turf?
Nope, just another
move to de-stuffify
the venue by the
powers that be at
the home of
cricket.
During lunch on
the fifth day of the 1st Test
against Bangladesh, the
crowd were allowed access to
the outfield for the first time
ever.
Over 9,000 spectators had
turned up to witness an
England win against the ever
improving opposition, and
many of them took advantage
of this rare opportunity.
Nasser Hussain was out in the
Ox to the slaughter ...
AN ox was slaughtered at
Johannesburg’s Soccer City
stadium to bless the country’s
stadiums for the FIFA World
Cup.
Xhosa warrior, Zakhele
Sigcawu, 70, of the Tshawe
clan, speared the ox in the
back of its neck between its
horns.
“He is a specialist in doing
this,” said Zolani Mkiva,
president and director
general of the Institute of
African Royalty. “He came all
the way from the rural
Eastern Cape to do this.”
“We centralised the blessing
here as the tournament starts
here and ends here,” he said,
adding that the spiritual
communication process was
very “sacred”.
The ceremony, which started
with the slaughter, was
attended by about 2,000
people from most South
African cultures, and most of
them in traditional attire.
128
I don’t believe it!
The not so serious side of the industry
middle signing anything that
was thrust in front of him,
whilst fellow commentators,
David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd and
David Gower marvelled at the
scenes whilst trying to
summarise the morning’s
play.
MCC chief executive, Keith
Bradshaw, described the
event as ‘ground breaking’.
We hope, for Mick Hunt’s
sake, that was not the case!
The traditional herb,
impepho, was burnt, and
healers called on African
ancestors and God to ensure
a successful World Cup.
They all also communicated
the “spirit” of the day’s
proceedings to the other
stadiums in the country
spiritually.
“Our stadiums are now
officially blessed, according to
our culture, for the
tournament,” Mr Mkiva said.
Could this be the answer to
the Wembley pitch problems?
Divot Divas bed in well!
When it comes to
keeping things neat
and tidy, a woman’s
touch is often best.
And it would appear
the same rule applies
to top-class golf
courses.
Those teeing off on
the iconic Old Course
at St Andrews this year
have a troupe of
glamorous Eastern
European women to
thank for its meticulously
groomed fairways and greens.
After struggling to find local
workers happy to brave the
chilly 5.30am starts, St
Andrews Links Trust
managers turned to an
employment agency for help
- and they have been
delighted with the results.
The ‘divot divas’ are busy
preparing the course for this
summer’s Open
Championship and the
arrival of top golfers such as
Tiger Woods (oo-er!).
And they have settled into life
in the sedate Scottish coastal
town so well that one has
married a local, whilst four of
the others are living with
members of the greenkeeping
staff!
Six days a week, the ladies
turn out to maintain the
course’s clipped and polished
landscape in the face of overzealous
golfers and the
unforgiving North Sea winds.
From March to October, they
earn £5.80 an hour by filling
the divots with sand. For the
rest of the year they dig out
up to 40,000 divots and
replace them with fresh turf.
Gordon Moir, the Trust’s
director of greenkeeping,
said: ‘It wasn’t what I was
expecting but it couldn’t have
worked out better. The girls
are such brilliant workers.
Their timekeeping is
exemplary and there is no
such thing as sickness.’
The girls, aged between 23
and 30, come from Latvia
and Estonia.
Loz has his hands full!
WE know we
shouldn’t let him
out but, just
occasionally, we
feel he needs a bit
of fresh air.
This picture was
taken at a Hooters
bar in the States,
and came to us
via one of our
clients. It might
explain why our
Laurence had a
smile on his face for the best part of a week after he got back!
Anyway, if you can think of a suitable caption, email it to
editor@pitchcare.com and we’ll send a bottle of bubbly to the best
one.