Print

[jwebber86]

i would be very careful about putting a roller over the outfield its more likely to compact everything rather then level stuff out.

try getting hold of a chain harrow and drag it round a lot. i have a football pitch on one side of the square it always looks a bit bare and uneven a serious chain harrow bit of seed and fertiliser it comes up nicely for the cricket season.

if they are that uneven it would be worth considering filling in the holes and putting some seed down or possibly even taking the turf up and level underneath.

it all comes down to time and resources available.

have a look at www.pitchcare.com they have a brilliant message board on there. regular posters include the head groundsman from sussex, cardiff, durham and loughborough along with lots of other knowledgeable people

[123*]

Don't roll whatever you do!

[JB]

You could really do with having the outfield verti-drained to decompact it, this will also help with the drainage. If you are struggling to find people to do the maintenance I suggest you set up a user account on pitchcare.com and post on their message board that you're looking for some maintenance work. You'll be surprised at how reasonable the costs are, when contractors are going round the area anyway. We do quite a lot of Natural & Synthetic pitch construction at work. If we've got a natural pitch out of the area and we've got to do the initial maintenance this is what I do to save travelling 200 miles to cut the grass for an hour!!

[pacman75cricket]

Do as much chain harrowing as above then once levels are good may be light roll with outfield roller not wicket roller.  If you have gangs these will probably give enough rolling.

[Vitas Cricket]

With regard to rolling, it depends on the condition of the ground i suppose. Our groundsmen do a fantastic job and keep the place looking immaculate. I know every March they hire a road roller (for tarmac) for 2 days and roll the outfield dawn till dusk. Commitment.

The outfield is absolute lightning.

[tommo256]

Ours gets rolled throughout the season, and is seirous value for shots at woolpit!

[123*]

Surely a roller just makes the high spots lower and the low spots even lower? And gives a load of other issues?!

[ProCricketer1982]

a roller will roll out little divots etc but it won't stop it from having high and low spots (like little rolling hills so to speak). for that you need to drag matt it when it's soft and re seed as you'll scrap away grass.


I know my old club literally had a pump in the local stream and flooded the outfield where the football pitch is, scraped it, drag matted it then seeded and top soiled it all.. weeks later.. flat grass outfield that's easy to maintain.

[TangoWhiskey]

I'm not worried about the high spots and low spots, it doesn't need to be flat like a car park! All I would like is to get down into a long barrier and not have the ball ping up into my teeth off a bobble.

[OwzatOllie]

Our primary home ground is horrifically bumpy in spots.  Almost like a sine wave in places.  The football team play on the far side of the ground and chew it up, then when it's hot the muddy spots go dry and crumbly and will graze any knees that dare to go near them.

Secondary ground,  (where I've played the most) albeit with the grass being slightly too long, is lovely and flat!