GROUNDS NEWSLETTER APRIL 2010

PQS - ECB Pitch Quality Standard Consultations

Last year Premier League and other clubs were offered Pitch Consultations by the ECB trained consultants Nick James (Heaton Mersey) and Paul Agar (Warrington).

Consultations for 14 clubs will have been completed by the end of April and detailed reports issued.

Consultations are being offered for a further 10 clubs in 2010 – 2011.

Applications should be made in writing by email asap and not later than 30^th April to:

john @bygate.fslife.co.uk

name, email address and telephone number of who should be contacted.

Applications will be considered in order of receipt.

Details attached of:

Ist Xl ECB PITCH MARKING 201l

GROUND CRITERIA

2ndXl PITCH MARKING

WICKET ROLLING RESEARCH

UMPIRES PITCH MARKING page 2 follows

Cheshire County Cricket League – Umpires Pitch Marking Table 2010

Grading Criteria

Inconsistency

Seam Movement

Carry & Bounce

Turn

Mark

Very Good

None

None

Good

None

5

Good

Little

Little

Just lacking

Little

4

Above Average

Occasional

Occasional

Lacking

Occasional

3

Below Average

More than occasional

More than occasional

Minimal

More than occasional

2

Poor

Excessive

Excessive

Very minimal

Excessive

1

Unfit

A pitch is only rated unfit if it is dangerous

0

Marks

5

4

4

3

16

· Add up the scores for each of the Categories to provide the Total Pitch Score. · In the event of a ‘spinner’ not bowling in the match and it is not possible to score ‘Category – Turn’, A mark of 3 should be given to enable the calculation of the Total Pitch Score

Comments

YES

NO

Did the pitch appear dry before the match?

P

Did the pitch have a uniform covering of grass along its length?

P

Were pitch markings correct and clear?

P

Were old footholes filled/repaired before the match?

P

Please add any other comments where relevant Damp pitch due to heavy rainfall in the week but had no effect on the game

Please rate the pitch and issue a mark as outlined in the guideline table

Very Good 17-20

Good 14-16

Above Average 10-13

Below Average 7-9

Poor 1-6

Unfit 0

Umpire 1 Name:

Signature:

Umpire 2 Name:

Signature:

Teams: Home:

Away:

Competition:

Date:

Criteria – · These criteria are to be used for marking pitches for a one day league game. Always take into consideration the quality and ability of the bowlers, newness of the ball, and prevailing atmospheric conditions that may influence the amount of movement. · Any variation in performance should be as a result of the quality of the pitch only.
Categories	Grade	Criteria
Very Good	5	· Good carry, limited seam movement and consistent bounce throughout, little or no turn, recognising that the quality and ability of bowlers may influence amounts of pace, bounce and turn when assessing the pitch · But natural wear sufficient to be responsive to spin later in the game.
Good	4	Average carry, limited seam movement, consistent bounce throughout, natural wear sufficient to be responsive to spin later in the game, though not quite meeting the criteria for carry and bounce for a "very good" pitch
Above Average	3	Lacks carry, and/or bounce and/or occasional seam movement, but consistent in carry and bounce. A degree of turn, but with average bounce for the spinner. Falling significantly short of "very good" with respect to carry, bounce and turn.
Below Average	2	Either very little carry and/or bounce and/or more than occasional seam movement, or occasional variable (but not excessive or dangerous) bounce and/or occasional variable carry. If a pitch demonstrates these features, then the pitch cannot be rated in a higher category regardless of the amount of turn the pitch displays at any stage of the match.
Poor	1	If any of the following criteria apply, a pitch may be rated "poor": · The pitch offers excessive seam movement at any stage of the match · The pitch displays excessive unevenness of bounce for any bowler at any stage of the match · The pitch offers excessive assistance to spin bowlers, especially early in the match
Unfit	0	The pitch is rated as dangerous if: · The pitch is excessively wet and slippery whereby players cannot gain a safe foothold. Wet areas may be localised to bowlers run-ups and/or areas on the pitch where the ball is likely to land, or in patches on the outfield · The pitch surface may be or become so dry or looses that the ball “explodes” through the surface and may fly unpredictably and dangerously · Bowlers footholds have not been properly and safely repaired · The Pitch/outfield has been vandalised in any way and is unfit for use

Cheshire County Cricket League – Umpires Outfield Marking
Grading Criteria	Unevenness	Appearance / Grass Length	Boundary markings	Sightscreens	Marks
Very Good	None	Cut & striped Below 3/4" (20mm) No Grass Cuttings	Rope or Fence in good condition Very clear line with marks at 20 yd Intervals	Good condition. In place Height / Width OK Easy to Move	5
Good	Little	Cut Below 3/4" (20mm) No Grass Cuttings	Rope or Fence in good condition Clear line Clear marks at 20 yd Intervals	Good condition Height / Width OK Easy to Move	4
Above Average	Slightly uneven	Cut &/or striped Below 3/4" (20mm) Some cutting left	Rope or Fence in reasonable Condition Clear Marks	Adequate Size Reasonable Condition Easy to Move	3
Below Average	Very uneven	Cut longer than 3/4" (20mm). Impairs ball movement	Condition less than above Markings not clear	Not large enough. Hard to move	2
Poor	Excessive unevenness	Long Grass. Impairs free ball movement	No Clear Markings	Not Adequate Poor Condition Hard to Move	1
An outfield is only rated unfit if it is dangerous					0
Marks
· Add up the scores for each of the Categories to provide the Total Outfield Score.

GROUND MARKING GRID FOR 1ST Xl’s on MATCH REPORT SHEET

PITCH	Inconsistency	Seam movement	Carry & Bounce	Turn	Mark /20
	Wet / Dry	Grass cover Y / N	Markings Y / N	Repair Y / N
OUTFIELD	Uneveness	Grass etc	Boundary	Sightscreens
Circle	Scoreboard	Good Ave BS	Scorers	Good Ave BS
	Scorebox	Good Ave BS	Umpires Room	Good Ave BS

2^nd Xl Captains Pitch Marking 2010

1^st Xl matches are being marked by the Umpires using an experimental ECB system which awards marks out of 20 for both pitch and outfield.

Please continue to mark as we always have:

Good (5marks), Average (3marks), Below Standard (0 marks).

The marks for 2^nd Xl pitches last year were high indicating a high standard.

Extract from 2010 Ground Criteria:

PITCHES: The objective is that the whole pitch should be firm, dry and true, providing good carry and consistent bounce with little seam movement throughout. In all cases pitches will be judged on how they play and not whether they are dry and what colour they look. Pitches should be marked out to current regulations (see handbook diagram). Creases should always be re-marked between innings.

WICKET ROLLING

The ECB have paid Cranfield University to report on the ROLLING of WICKETS.

The report can be downloaded from the ECB publications section on play-cricket,com and the link below. This also takes you to videos of the research on utube, Please bring this research to the attention of your groundsman.

Centre for Sports Surface Technology

Page 29 of 34

www.cranfield.ac.uk/sas/sst

© Cranfield University, 2009

4. A total of 10 passes (with a two drum roller) should do it.

Summer pre-match rolling requires a maximum of 10 roller passes (two drum

roller) to achieve the roller compactive potential. With low clay soil this should be

done in the period 36 to 56 hours after saturation in one or two sessions and with

the maximum roller weight for at least six of these passes. After this time the full

compactive potential of the roller will not be achieved.

For the high clay soil, the drying to optimum moisture content time is more likely

to be influenced by the ambient weather conditions. However the following regime

with a two drum roller is suggested:

• An initial rolling of two passes within 48 to 72 hours, preferably with the

maximum roller weight but make sure that it is not too wet as there is a risk

of horizontal soil movement (this depends on the initial pitch density).

• A further four roller passes per day for the next two days should be

sufficient to achieve maximum potential.

• A total of 10 roller passes with at least the last six roller passes with the maximum roller weight. • The timings of these will change according to the weather conditions

however it is important not to leave rolling until the soil has dried below the

optimum.

Further rolling beyond the recommended 10 roller passes is unlikely to

increase pitch density and for reasons discussed previously should be only

undertaken for other playability reasons. For this purpose it would be

prudent to consider using a lighter roller to prevent excessive horizontal

soil stress.