The square and pitch was cut on Thursday as the weather was good and there was rain forecast for overnight Thursday and possibly on Friday as well. The covers went on at tea time on Thursday and it proved to be a wise decision. With some uncertainty about the weather until Saturday the covers were left on until Saturday morning.
Early Saturday 3 of the second team turned out to get the water off the covers and I gave the pitch a cut and roll whilst John marked the boundary and creases.
I was interested to see how the repairs to the pitch held up during the game on Saturday.
The game went the full 90 overs with nearly 300 runs scored and on Sunday it looked as if little cricket had been played on the pitch.
A quick roll on Sunday to 'nip' the surface in and little more will be needed before next Saturday, except for the usual cutting and rolling.
When our latest sight screen was delivered it came with a much shorter winding pole than the pole with our first screen and it was so short that it was difficult to reach to wind the mesh up and down. The firm we bought it off promised to replace it, but after a month of waiting I offered to go over to Leeds to pick a new one up from the manufacturers. My thanks to Andy and the use of Fastlane Displays' van for getting it on Friday.
Knowing that rain was coming Thursday night I added some fertilizer to pitch number 1 and then on Friday the soil was soft enough to allow some light forking to give me some holes to help with the reseeding. The worn areas were then topdressed and after the rain on Sunday, the repaired areas were rolled. The result was a fully repaired pitch which probably won't be used until next year.
As an experiment I have bought a water pump that can be attached to an electric drill, to see if we can remove the water off the covers without having to use the BowDry to remove it all. The good news is that it works, the bad news is that our petrol generator is leaking fuel like a sieve; another job for Kevin, our machine man, to have a look at, along with the doors for the roller where one of the hinges has broken. He will now have replaced all 3 hinges and it is a good job that the doors are fitted with 3 hinges or we would have been in a mess.
The weather forecast for today was again for rain later on so immediately after lunch the pitch and square was cut. Just as I was finishing the rain came and it hasn't stopped since. The pitch will take the rain and saves me the job. I always think that our square plays better when it is not too dry.
Thursday looks like a good day weather wise this week so after my stint at 'Come 4 Lunch' I hope to get on with preparations for saturday. Watch this space for how it all goes.