From a playing point of view, the square is vital. A good square produces good wickets to play on, with something for both batsmen and bowlers, enjoyable matches and satisfied players.
Over the course of the playing season, the square takes a pounding from league matches, Sunday games, the colts wicket and various other representative and other fixtures. So during the autumn, work is needed to repair and prepare for next season. This involves time and materials.
Following the final Sunday fixture in late September, the work began. The first stage was to scarify, to break up the compaction in readiness for re-seeding. The square was scarified in three different directions, at various depths.
The seed was then applied, and was then covered with a generous layer of loam.
It was also time to get the mowing equipment and roller serviced and put away for the winter. This rather unusual photo of the roller shows it being emptied of the substantial amount of water that is added, in stages, to its tanks to bring up the maximum weight – but which needs to be drained before being put away for winter.
A few weeks later, in late November, the new grass had begun to grow and it was time for a cut and final aeration treatment before winter set in.
When spring arrives, work on preparing the square for the 2024 season will begin in late February or March, when the groundsman comes in to start light rolling and cutting. As play begins in April, the groundsman will prepare wickets for matches.
The square is tended on behalf of the club by Barney Stay and Dave Parsons, who have produced some excellent wickets in recent years, working with whatever the weather throws at them during the English summer, whether it was the heatwave and drought in 2022, when the outfield turned brown but the square was kept green by watering, or the much wetter summer last year, which required the covers to be rolled on and off at regular intervals to keep wickets dry.
Many players do not see the work that goes into looking after that square of grass in the middle of the field – but we do appreciate the hard work and expertise that our groundsman brings to the club.
