Over 130 cricket groundsmen made their way to Cheltenham College for the second ever Dennis and SISIS’ Cricket Pitch Renovation Day, which featured a mix of thought provoking indoor presentations and outdoor practical demonstrations.

The event, which was supported by Boughton Loam, CricketWorld.com, Stuart Canvas, Limagrain UK, Lister Wilder, Poweroll and Headland Amenity began with an introduction from Robert Jack (Dennis and SISIS) and Eric Woodmason from Gloucestershire Cricket Board who gave a fascinating insight into his role as clubs and programmes officer for the north of the county.

Alex Vickers, turf consultant, was first up to discuss principles of decision making for autumn renovations & profile reading. Alex proceeded to offer some great renovation tips which was supported by visual slides and in particular he urged all attendees to plan ahead and avoid guess work. He advocates that gathering evidence prior to forming renovation decisions was key and advised groundsmen to understand the importance of what is happening beneath the square rather than focussing just on the top.

As a leading contractor, Keith Exton of Perfect Pitches UK, was perfectly placed to deliver his seminar on end of season renovations - a contractor’s overview. Keith was keen to emphasise just how integral timing is to cricket pitch preparation and warned the audience not to overlook the significance of measuring moisture content.

Both Keith and Alex went on further to discuss various renovation techniques such as aeration, top-dressing, seeding and applying loam, and both were also unanimous in the importance of taking core soil samples.

Following the presentations, delegates were introduced to the Soil Core Clinic. In this feature Keith was joined by Ian Smith (St Albans School Turf Consultant) as they proceeded to examine a number of soil profiles which were brought to the event by delegates. The samples were projected onto the big screen and Keith and Ian discussed how each could potentially be improved.

A complimentary lunch signalled the halfway point before delegates made their way outside for the outdoor practical demonstrations which took place on two squares and the cricket outfield.

The three workshops focused on a variety of techniques that would be beneficial for cricket groundsmen and saw an impressive fleet of machinery carrying out tasks such as aeration, seeding, brushing, top dressing and scarifying.

Adam King, head of grounds at Radley College, brought other members of staff along with him and found the day extremely worthwhile. “I’ve brought along five lads with me today and we’ve been treated to some great indoor talks and outdoor demonstrations. Generally, I find these days useful in respect of networking but it’s also a nice release for my members of staff who have been incredibly busy for the last six months on the cricket squares. It has given them the day off; they have been able to watch the machines in action, learn something new and they will absolutely take something away.”

Echoing Adam’s thoughts was Gordon Gill, contractor and head groundsman at Bath Cricket Club, who felt it was refreshing for his members of staff to gain a greater insight into the industry.

“I’ve come along to introduce my two staff members to the networking that goes on, plus they can see the machinery first hand, they can speak to other people in the trade first hand, and suddenly they find they are not alone anymore. It’s been a great exercise for them.”

Eric Woodmason rounded off the day by suggesting that events like these are not just beneficial to the groundsmen but also claimed that they have a positive impact on the sport of cricket. “My main desire out of this is that club groundsmen gain experience and knowledge of what they need to do on their grounds and hopefully that their grounds will improve as a result. This in turn, will get more people wanting to play cricket because if there is a good ground to play on, cricket becomes even more enjoyable.”