Magazine - Les Burdett Talks More on his Retirement

By Editor in Cricket on 6th Feb 2010 21:15

It was always going to be about the pitch. It always is with Les Burdett, for the Adelaide Oval wicket is like a third child, sitting in an exalted place just below his two beloved daughters.

And so 22 yards of turf shared centre stage while the world's leading cricket curator announced his retirement yesterday. The eyes of those assembled in the Bradman Stand were drawn to the sward every time that Burdett mentioned the wicket. Burdett will retire as Adelaide Oval manager in July after 40 years on the curating team, the past 32 as head groundsman. In that time he has built an unparalleled reputation among Australian curators, and a worldwide profile.

Declaring he remained fit and healthy, Burdett, 59, said the grind of running the oval had exacted a toll. The time was right -- if he didn't leave now he could see himself still in the job in 20 years.

"From the outside looking in it looks pretty simple -- grab the lawnmower and the roller and get out there and do it and talk to the seagulls," he said.  "But if you ask my family, it's a seven-day summer. It's a commitment. "It's on your mind all the time." "No turf surface in the world of sport has more riding on the result of the game than the cricket pitch," Burdett said.

It was on his mind this week when he sought out SACA president Ian McLachlan for a "man-to-man" chat over a cup of coffee.Later that day he resigned after speaking to SACA chief executive John Harnden. "I wanted to give Ian and the board a bit of notice. I want to do the normal things that people do on weekends," Burdett said.

Chief on that list are fishing and golf, which he hasn't played for "about two-and-a-half years". Burdett was momentarily lost for words when asked to talk about the support given by his wife, Jane, and daughters, Zoe and Emma, who were at the press conference. Tugging gently on a tie monogrammed with little bats and stumps, he related a memory that combined all his great loves.

He told of the girls learning to drive on the oval at family tennis days, with a barbecue sizzling and the cathedral bells singing in the background. "I'm sad to go but happy with what lies ahead," he said. "Adelaide Oval has been good to me and I'd like to think in my own heart I've been good to it."

McLachlan paid tribute to a groundsman who was "without peer". "I can tell you now, there's no better cricket ground surface in the world, and he has done all that," he said.

Source & More: www.theaustralian.com.au

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