EXTENDED PLAY AT EDGBASTON

SPECIAL REPORT EDGBASTON

EXTENDED PLAY AT EDGBASTON

Edgbaston Stadium plays a key role in the development of cricket this year. As well as hosting a growing number of regular competitions, Gary Barwell and his team will be taking on the Commonwealth Games’ first Women’s T20 tournament. We look at the turf management challenges

BY DR ANDY CARMICHAEL, SPORTSTURF ACADEMIC

Edgbaston Cricket Ground’s Head of Sportsturf and Grounds, Gary Barwell, considers himself to have been “very lucky” to work with some of the best in the game during his career, and he is full of praise for the grounds staff and the rest of the stadium team who pull together to provide exceptional sporting events at Edgbaston, the home of Warwickshire

County Cricket Club and a venue for major international events.

“The cricket experiences at Edgbaston always produce a great atmosphere – similar to an enthusiastic football crowd enjoying the match, rather than polite applause,” Gary says. “Our spectators have certainly taken the role of the ‘12th man’ on many occasions.”

Recalling his fi rst Ashes Test at the venue in 2015, Gary says he was told that he would never experience anything quite like it – and it didn’t disappoint. He says the excitement in the run-up to and during the 2019 England versus Australia fi xture was another standout experience and he’s really looking forward to the repeat fi xture in 2023.

This year, however, another major international cricket event awaits, with

Edgbaston hosting the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games’ Women’s T20 cricket tournament. This heralds an opportunity that Gary believes will help promote the game by showcasing elite women players in a fi rst-class venue that provides a fantastic spectator experience, and will help to encourage more women, girls, men and boys to support the female game.

MAN WITH THE PLAN

It will be a hectic schedule for Gary ALAMY and his team. Starting on the 28 July, Edgbaston will host 16 cricket matches

Gary’s career path

Gary was introduced to groundsmanship through a college work experience programme, rotating through various departments at his beloved Leicester City FC until he came to, and stopped at, the grounds department. This positive experience ultimately led to him to getting a job at Grace Road cricket ground, home to Leicestershire County Cricket Club, in 1993. He worked cricket ground, home to Leicestershire County Cricket Club, in 1993. He worked his way up the ranks before moving on to become deputy head groundsman his way up the ranks before moving on to become deputy head groundsman at Nottingham Trent Bridge before he joined Edgbaston Stadium in 2011. Here, Gary and the team have won IOG (GMA) awards for their outstanding Here, Gary and the team have won IOG (GMA) awards for their outstanding workmanship – much to the benefit of the cricket-watching public.

Gary’s pitches have helped to win the County Championship Bob Willis Trophy five times (two for Leicestershire, one for Nottinghamshire and two for Warwickshire CCC)

The award-winning team – top row, from left: Harry Rooke, Ashley Hill and Marter Porter; bottom row, from left: Jack Tombs, Jonathan Blakeman, Mark Johnston, Gary Barwell, Brandon Johnston, Bernhard O’Connor and Dave Keen

THE CRICKET SEASON IS NOW EFFECTIVELY MARCH UNTIL ALMOST OCTOBER, WHICH MEANS LOSING NEARLY TWO MONTHS OF RENOVATION TIME, AND GROUNDS STAFF HAVE TO COMPENSATE WITH NEW AND INNOVATIVE APPROACHES

in the 10-day tournament. And that assumes the weather holds and reserve days are not needed. Gary says the pitch schedule was planned way in advance to accommodate camera positions for broadcasters’ programming.

The first block of matches will be played on a single pitch, the second block will use another, with the semifinals and final moving to a third pitch within the stadium. The opening two series of games will be played on hybrid pitches (artificial fibres that support the natural grass plant) – a pitch technology that has been gathering pace within cricket venues – and Gary tells me he has been very pleased with its longlasting capabilities so far.

QUALITY ASSURED

Gary and his team manage 91 grass pitches at both the stadium and at the Portland Road outground, plus four astros, three groundsturf bays and three outfields used by all Warwickshire CCC’s first, women’s and second cricket teams.

Ongar Loam Plus is used on the grass pitches. This decision is based largely on historical choice, not wanting to change the composition of the squares and potentially cause problems. And why would they, given the quality of the international standard pitches produced?

Gary tells me that the aim is for every pitch to play the same regardless of location. “Someone could be placed blindfolded on any one of these pitches and they wouldn’t know where they were from how they play,” he says. This standard-quality pitch approach helps younger players, particularly during their transition to the bigger stage.

INCREASING DEMAND

After the final day of the Commonwealth Games’ competition, there will be little time for the team to relax. Just two days after the final competition, Birmingham Phoenix are back in action at the stadium in the Hundred, which Gary says has been very successful for Edgbaston by bringing new crowds and a great atmosphere. Then just two days after that event, the team will be ready to host a Royal London Cup match.

Gary talked me through a fixture schedule that includes many more events than most people realise outside the profession. In my opinion, it would be helpful if TV pundits would take the time to understand and appreciate the skill and commitment that Gary’s seven stadium and three Portland Road staff members give year round to ensure that all these pitches meet the required standard.

For example, in 1993, Edgbaston hosted 20 first-class matches, and this year the international ground will host an incredible 48 first-class games. Gary says the traditional “four-day, one-day, four-day sequence is now a thing of the past.

“The cricket season is now effectively March until almost October, which means losing nearly two months of renovation time, and grounds staff have to compensate with new and innovative approaches,” he explains. This seems to be is a familiar story for many who work at sports venues across the country, requiring careful management to ease stressful periods of work.

Gary says his current maintenance approach has to embrace lighting rigs, germination sheets and very careful irrigation. The aim is to give attention to any gain that can be made in the challenge of growing and managing a grass plant, which on cricket surfaces is taken within a few millimetres of its life. The increasing demands of more sporting fixtures subject the turf to extreme stresses that must be countered with actions that not only keep it alive, but return it to an elite playing level.

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE

Fortunately, the Edgbaston grounds team now benefit from owning all the equipment they need. Previously, they might have had to hire in third parties for some tasks, such as pro-coring, but now Gary says the team can pursue sustainable turf management practices that enable them to be “in charge of [their] own destiny”.

From an environmental consideration, the team are keen to transition towards a reduced ecological footprint. They no longer use insecticides, they always consider electric options over machines that burn fossil fuel, and are looking towards robotic mowers, not just for the positive environmental implications, but also for the reduction in the team’s workload. After the festival of cricket fixtures lined up this summer, I’m sure they would all appreciate that.