Earning his Spurs - Pitchcare

Grass tennis courts
“The contractor
brought in to
look after things
took it into his
head to scarify
the surface in
two different
directions, with
disastrous
consequences”
42
Nursery ground and nets with main square beyond
grounds are within his portfolio,
however Roger’s early experience
came at Surrey venues, working part
time at Kenley and Oxted cricket
clubs, while employed for
pharmaceuticals giant Upjohn.
“I was batting for Surrey second
team in the early 1970s. I played a lot
of cricket and am still as passionate
about it as I am about
groundsmanship. Nothing looks
lovelier than a nicely striped up
ground. I experimented with circles
and dabbled with diagonals but landed
back with the traditional look.”
When his job at Upjohn came to an
end, Roger decided to take a chance
and move into the industry full-time.
“I look after about ten grounds and
that keeps me and my staff busy. I
need a day a week away from
Horsham to check that everything’s
okay.”
Perhaps, like so many cricket venues,
money can get tight. “We manage to
provide a county standard ground on a
club budget,” Roger states proudly.
“It’s a constant battle to maintain
standards. Once you let them slip, you
have to work that much harder to
bring them back up. Not many
grounds in the south-east are as good
as Horsham.”
You suspect that Roger would never
entertain that idea for a moment,
although he concedes that the weather
earlier this year thwarted his plan of
action for 2010.
“We found it difficult to find a
window for weeding. The windy
weather, with its sudden gusts, made
spraying impossible, and the worst
times to be doing it are when players
want to practice.”
He accepts that keeping the weeds at
bay is growing harder as the battery of
chemicals deemed safe to apply
dwindles. “Glyphosate we apply to the
surrounds of the ground and
chlordane worked wonderfully on the
worms, but that’s not permitted now,
and carbendazim is being phased out
too. Chafer grubs can be a problem,
but Merit tackles that and helps
prevent the damage that crows can do
in digging around for grubs,
particularly on the practice ground.
The last attack of the grubs we had
here cost the club £700 to put right.
Snow mould didn’t get hold here
during the snowy spell and, thankfully,
we don’t suffer from fusarium.”
First play comes around in April
when the club takes to the field, then
county matches follow. The season’s
arriving earlier each year it seems, as
the demand for practice time
impinges on what is traditionally the
preparatory period for the
groundstaff.
“By January, I’m finishing off
aerating the square and spraying on
iron to add strength to the turf.
February’s the time for the pre-season
roll with the two and half tonne roller
then, in spring, I’m applying the first
fertiliser and iron to strengthen and
encourage colour. It’s then time to
verticut the outfield.”
He rents an Earthquake aerator,
which, hauled behind one of the club’s
35hp tractors, generates 10-12in deep
slits. “This is the second year we’ve
brought it in and it works well,” says
Roger. “We tend to alternate it with
vertidraining.”
To complicate matters though,
Roger has to be careful to use the right
equipment and machinery in the right
parts of the ground. “On the south