There is a benefit in this in that it attracts aggregates levy funding and the holes in the ground are useful for landfill and consequent landfill tax credit grants!!!

For ground renovation materials contact either Peter Aylott or Peter Robinson for loam, seed, fertiliser etc. bulk buying deals. The arrangements do not include bus stop deliveries for the particular supply from Surrey Loams Ltd.

There are currently two drop points for Surrey Loams Ltd supplies and they are Lower Halstow and Addington.  Clubs collect from these points.

Monro South - who have a depot at Aylesford - deal with Ongar Loam:  Bournes at Newenden do ordinary Surrey loam.

The material from Surrey Loams Ltd is specifically designed to benefit those clubs who have a high silt content in their indigenous soil as it is the lowest silt content material on the market.

For any further information contact Peter Robinson or Peter Aylott.

As some of you may know, Cricket World® is working closely with the ECB Cricket Development team to promote and develop grass roots cricket.
 
For the last few years they have been acknowledging the work of Groundsmen throughout the UK and Europe with annual awards and Cricket World® is pleased to announce the Groundsman of the Year Awards for 2008.

The Winners are nominated for the outstanding quality of the playing surface, general upkeep of the ground, Longevity of Service or an ‘against all odds’ type of Achievement Award.

The winners are invited to attend a Presentation at Lord’s Cricket Ground at the end of the season and at least 16 groundsmen are recognised with achievement certificates as well.

If you would like to nominate a Groundsman for the 2008 Awards, please  email: info@cricketworld.com or Tel:+44 (0)1476 565 569 or Fax:+44 (0)1476 572901

There is also a link to online application form for nominations for the Cricket World Groundsman of the Year 2008

CATEGORIES
The Awards for Groundsmen will be judged in four categories:
a) Club
b) School
c) Local Authority
d) ICC Europe

Please do send in your nominations for these awards asap. Also, if you have any news from your region, please do send the details to Cricket World® and they will publish them online in the relevant section of their website www.cricketworld.com

Last year, George Alexander of Tonbridge School received the national award for Groundsman of the Year in the School and College group.  A report and photo from the day are on this website.

The Awards, hosted by Cricket World® and Pitchcare.com, came under four categories: School and College, Local Authority, Cricket Club and European grounds.

The Award Winners

Laurence Gale of PitchCare.com who said that judging the awards was an extremely rewarding experience selected the winners.

“Whilst judging the awards I had the opportunity to meet many dedicated groundsmen at their inspiring venues and it gave me the opportunity to see a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience being put into practice.”

Gale also said that selecting the four winners from the twenty finalists was a far from easy task.

“How do you compare a ground that has everything - plenty of resources, machinery and staff, to one that is managed by volunteers with little or no equipment?

“I believe it’s about the Groundsman himself and what he brings to the table in terms of commitment, enthusiasm and guile along with the ability to get things done with the resources he has at hand. Above all he must produce a playing surface that is both safe and consistent, while at the same time promotes the game of cricket.”

The winners were presented with their Awards by Chris Wood, the top ECB Pitch Advisor and Alastair Symondson, Head of Media at Cricket World® 

The Groundsman of the Year Awards 2007: 

School and College
1. George Alexander, Tonbridge School
2. Mike Rutherford Framling College
3. Ian Smith, St Albans School

Local Authority

1. Simon Lawrence, Colchester and East Sussex CC
2. Gordon Gill, Westbury and District CC
3. Glyn Dobbs and Ivor Parry, Borough of Blaenow Gwent

Cricket Club

1. Paul Tatton, Haydock CC
2. Andrew Clarke, Shenley CC
3. John Lawrence Plymouth CC

European

1. Karl McDermott, Clontarf CC (Ireland)
2. Ian Vauntier, Grainville Playing Fields, (Jersey)

John Deere, Dennis, Lloyds & Co, JMS, Notts Sports, Flicx, Goundreys, Binders, Stuart Canvas, Synergy Products, Groundsman Industries and Tildernet sponsored the Awards.

The European Groundsman of the Year title went to Karl McDermott of Clontarf CC in Ireland, who made the journey across the Irish Sea to pick up his award.

McDermott’s success comes after more than 16 years commitment to the club where he spends hundreds of hours tending his beloved ground which has 14 wickets required to host over 100 matches in a season.

McDermott was presented with his well-deserved award by ICC European Development Manager, Richard Holdsworth who has witnessed the top groundsman’s achievements at Clontarf first-hand this season in hosting the Ireland v West Indies ODI.

Holdsworth said, “It is a pleasure for me to present Karl with this award. The dedication and commitment that he gives to Clontarf Cricket Club are second to none.

“The improvements made to the ground during his time at the club have not only brought the pitch up to the ICC’s stringent playing standards for hosting One Day Internationals, but have made the ground and its facilities more enjoyable for both players and spectators alike.”

The improvements that Karl has brought to the cricket club include a new drainage system around the square, renewal of all the grounds equipment, installation of an artificial pitch and the additional of an electronic scoreboard.

Another fanatical groundsman and the runner up of the European award is Ian Vauntier, who for the past 32 years has looked after the Grainville Playing Fields in Jersey. Like McDermott, Vauntier dedicates his life to maintaining and improving the ground so that visitors will go away impressed.

Richard Holdsworth added “I am pleased that both Karl and Ian’s hard work has been recognized with these awards. These two dedicated men stand as shining examples of the challenging work that must be done behind the scenes to enable so many cricketers to enjoy this great game.”

For further information on the awards and details of the winners and runners-up please visit the Cricket World Groundmanship pages:

http://www.cricketworld.com/groundsmanship/article/?aid=13024

ECB have updated their guide to groundsman “Recommended guidelines for the construction, preparation and maintenance of cricket pitches and outfield at all levels of the game – TS4” (Technical Specification 4)

It is available for download from this website at this address.  Please note this is a large PDF file (3.4mb) and you will need the freely-available Acrobat Reader to be able to view it.

This really is a fantastic resource for everyone involved in all turf management.  Certainly it’s a “must” for all groundsman or people wanting to gain a better understanding of the work of groundsman at all levels of the game.

The Minutes are available for download by clicking this link.

Included in the Minutes are summary notes of a presentation given by Alex Vickers on results to date of the Cranfield rolling trials and one given by David Bates of Total Turf Solutions, both of which were well received by those present.

 The Kent Groundman’s Association has a bid in for aeration machinery and Sibton Park and Addington have been awarded grants towards the cost of two fairway mowers from the London Golf Club. See the full story here.

Full details and an attendance form can be found and downloaded by clicking here.