Thursday 30th April

With commitments all day Tuesday and Wednesday this week, today was the first opportunity to get some work done at the Rec.

The weather forecast was not good and I could see rain falling all around, but very little came overhead so good progress was made this afternoon. 

Roy is in Australia so the first thing to do was to cut the whole field.

If the grass is wet to cut grass tends to clump together so I was pleased the rain stayed away. I like to put stripes on the outfield as well as the square.

I was disappointed  that yet another metal peg had been left by the footballers which I didn't see and was cut in half by the mower, not doing the blades any good.

After that it was time to trim back Saturday's pitch.

Then to cut the whole square putting the stripes back. Fortunately the weather has been too cold for the grass to grow too much. I noticed that parts of the square were beginning to crack, so unless we get a decent amount of rain, the sprinkler will have to go on soon. 

Lastly the practice strip was cut down ready for the net sessions to start. Not too bad for 3 hours work!

Sunday 26th April

There was good and bad news from yesterday.

The disappointing news was that rain prevented the game at home (and away) from reaching a conclusion.

The good news was that the pitch and square were not damaged because of the wet weather and the best news being that Copmanthorpe II scored over 200 runs on the pitch.

An early start this morning to sweep up the sawdust, get the roller on the pitch and the sprinkler on the outfield.

The footholes and batting holes are not very deep so no repair work will be needed here.

John was on the roller and it looked good when it was finished.

Friday 24th April

All ready for the first game tomorrow apart from a trim of the pitch in the morning.

John was down first thing to put the creases in and the outfield had its final cut this afternoon.

The weather forecast doesn't look bad so let's hope we get a full day's play.

Just seen on the tv during the West Indies / England game, how to repair footholes.

A bit of green matting, a hammer and lots of 6 inch nails. Much easier than making up a damp loam mix and tampering it in!

Thursday 23rd April

One day to go and we are almost there.

The square has probably had its final cut, but it might get a trim tomorrow or Saturday and the pitch has been cut to its final height but that will definitely get a trim Saturday morning.

The pitch has good grass cover and is still a little green in places, but I am not going to cut it any lower as we have three games to play on this pitch and the sun is due to shine tomorrow.

All in all the square is looking quite good.

A cricket square is not a square unless it has stripes!

Weather forecast for Saturday is not as bad as we thought it was going to be, fingers crossed for good weather and a good game!

Tuesday 21st April

Another bust day at the Rec.

This morning the 'Tuesday Group' helped put up the posts for the netting protecting the play area and then loaded and spread 3 trailer loads of topsoil over the two goalmouth areas.

This evening our final pre-season working party also spread another 3 trailer loads of topsoil over the outfield.

Thanks to the 'Tuesday Group' and all who have helped over the last 3 days.

Monday 20th April

'With a little help from your friends' - it is amazing how much work can be done.

Thanks to 9 men and a very willing young female assistant, 2 tons of top soil (£100+, thanks Rec Centre committee) were spread over the outfield in just 1 hour.

Leaving the bags completely empty.

But for those who think that there is nothing left to do tomorrow night, there is plenty more topsoil in the compound.

Thanks to all who came tonight, it was much appreciated.

Sunday 19th April

It was all action at the Rec this morning as the first major working party set about the many tasks needed to be done before next Saturday.

The new sightscreen was put together yesterday and safely stored in the compound.

First job today was to get the fencing down from around the square. John and Roy were down early and a lot had been done before the rest of the team arrived.

After that some of the lads set about putting the netting back up against the fence by the railway line, which had been pulled down by people trying to get their footballs back.

Andy and Evin put the lettering back on the scoreboard and the memorial clock went up.

Once the netting around the square was down the lads filled in the holes left by the posts.

Finally the working party start filling in the many divots on the outfield with topsoil.

Working parties on the next two nights should see the rest of the 2 tons of topsoil spread and the outfield looking much better.

Tomorrow the contractor is going to overseed the whole field and on Tuesday he is vertidraining the playing area.

At last, with the fencing down, the Rec is starting to look like a cricket ground.

Friday 17th April

Another action packed day at the Rec today.

First the scorebox was grey:

Then John painted it black:

Later, our sponsor and club member Joel, of Copmanthorpe Dining Club came down to put up his logo:

Not an easy job in the wind, by yourself and across two doors, but the result was fine:

You know the first game is not far away when you start to prepare the first pitch.

Initially a trim to get the grass down a little:

And then the hard work with the scarifier:

Cut, scarify, cut, scarify, over and over again, gradully lowering the height of the cut.

It is amazing how much grass comes off without lowering the blades too much:

A hour later and the first appearance of the of the true surface:

Over the next few days the process will be repeated until the grass is down to the required height and the scarifying has removed all of the long stalks of grass that have been flattened so are not cut by the mower.

One week to go and still much to be done, but the working parties over the next four days should make a big difference (if club members turn out to help!).

Monday 13th April

A busy afternoon at the Rec.

Joel was on the roller, giving the first pitch to be used a week on Saturday and the practice strip, a good roll.

I was sanding down the scorebox ready for John to paint it later in the week.

The generator that Joel got off ebay worked a treat and saved running a power lead from the tennis clubhouse.

McCarthy & Stone have sponsored advertising on the scorebox again this year. We are going to use the money to replace the facia boards which are rotting. 

Friday 10th April

A busy afternoon at the Rec today.

John cut the grass by the fencing with the rotary whilst I finished the square off with the Ransome.

John then starting roller in line with the pitches for the first time this season.

After that the pitch markers went in.

Finally Roy came down and we lowered the cutting height on the Ransome Triple mower.

Two weeks to go and we are getting there!