WHO WAS THE STAR OF THE WEEK?
TURF PRO OF THE WEEK
This week, we salute the efforts of Ken McCurdie and his groundstaff at Mannofield, headquarters of the Aberdeeenshire Cricket Club which last Friday hosted the England v Scotland One Day International.
Staging a major match in May at the most northernmost venue for a cricket international was always going to be a challenge - and so it proved with Ken and his team battling the weather in the run up to the game.
Not only that, on the day before the game Ken fell badly from a machine being used to dry the ground and dislocated his elbow. Rain held up the start of the game on Friday, with Ken (arm in a sling) orchestrating the efforts of his team to get a game on for the capacity crowd.
In the event, the players, the umpires and the groundstaff managed to get a 23-over game in starting at 4.00pm which England won. Skipper Alastair Cook described conditions as the "wettest I have ever played in, there was standing water at mid-on".
Credit to Ken and his team - and of course the players and the umpires for ignoring the conditions and ensuring the game eventually went ahead in a region which rarely sees international cricket (although in 1948, Mannofield was the venue of Sir Don Bradman's last first class century).
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