Congrats to Hampshire CCC’s Nigel Gray for winning the ECB Groundsman of the Year in the four day category. Disarmingly honest, Nigel told the BBC “I didn’t realise we were doing quite that well, so this was a big surprise. I knew it was going alright but I wasn’t expecting to come out on top”. Nigel won the award in 1995 and 1998 when at Hampshire’s previous ground at Northlands Road, but he faced major challenges when the Club move to a new ground in 2001, originally the Rose Bowl now the Ageas Bowl.  The wicket was so unpredictable in the first few seasons that during a game against the Indians in 2002, Sachin Tendulakar and Rahul Dravid refused to bat in the second innings because they considered it too dangerous.

Vandals caused mindless damage to Meltham Cricket Club's pitch overnight on Friday. The club who play in the Huddersfield district league have offered £500 to help catch the yobs who left deep tyre tracks in all directions across their playing surface. Club chairman Martin Shaw told the Huddersfield Daily Examiner “It’s just disgusting. We had it happen about seven or eight weeks ago – not quite as bad as these latest tracks – but it's just appaling. It’s caused a lot of damage to the outfield and one of the centres has also been dug up by the vehicle."  The club posted the below picture on Twitter.

A judge in Brazil ruled last Wednesday that construction on the golf course for the Rio Olympics won't be halted due to environmental concerns. Construction delays have set back completing the course for the first Olympic golf tournaments since 1904. It is about 60 to 70 percent finished, according to reports. A lawsuit was brought against the course developer in September, citing environmental concerns. The course construction could still be stopped in the future, if new evidence is brought forward, such as in an appeal says NBC Sports.

Interesting read at Quartz about the groundsman of New York City's Rockerfeller Plaza, who's responsibility it is to source the iconic Christmas which stands in front of their world-famous ice-rink. This year Eric Pauze spotted an 85-foot, 13-ton Norway spruce as he was driving down the interstate in central Pennsylvania, which he then had to persuade its owners to part with. See the tree being moved below.