Magazine - New tool eases surface tension at Oval

By Editor in Cricket on 21st Aug 2009 6:40

Never mind Andrew Flintoff’s knee or Jonathan Trott’s nerve, Ricky Ponting’s ego or Brad Haddin’s finger, what will determine whether or not England can win the final npower Test and with it the Ashes is the behaviour of the pitch over the course of five momentous days.

We all know what to expect at the Brit Oval, where the playing surface seems as timeless as the old pavilion and the famous gasometers. It has not changed much since England scored their then record 903 for seven declared there in 1938 and Bill O’Reilly, the great Australia leg spinner, said: “Where’s the groundsman’s hut? If I had a rifle, I’d shoot him now.”

The pitch will be rock hard with the ball bouncing evenly and carrying through to the wicketkeeper and slips. It might swing if the atmospheric conditions are in the bowlers’ favour. And the ball will turn on the fourth or fifth day, depending on how dry it is.  Now, however, Bill Gordon, who has been on the groundstaff since 1974 and took over as head groundsman in 2003, has a new tool to help him bring about such idyllic conditions — and give both sides an even better idea of what is in store for them.

Surrey are giving a trial to a TurfTrax weather system, a solar-powered device used at racecourses to provide a comprehensive log of overhead conditions, as well as ground and soil temperatures, and it will be in operation at a Test match for the first time.

Sited at the Vauxhall End to catch the full rays of the sun as it rises behind the pavilion and passes round the Harleyford Road side of the ground, it gives Gordon all the information he needs from rainfall to air temperature, relative humidity to solar radiation, and soil moisture content to soil temperature on his computer.

Not that Gordon — who has been England’s groundsman of the year for the past six seasons — and his four full-time staff plus two more on summer contracts need a lot of advice. The Test pitch has not been played on since England beat South Africa by six wickets last August. It was scarified and re-seeded along with the rest of the square during the winter and protected from the wear and tear of county matches until they began their preparations ten days ago.

The pitch is already hard and beginning to glisten under the effects of the sun but the system will help, particularly when it comes to measuring the moisture content and temperature of the soil through a cable that runs alongside television’s stump camera.

Like every groundsman, Gordon would like his pitch to be as dry as possible, not because he wants to help England if they decide to play two spinners — since nobody gives him any instructions about what to prepare — but because he wants to produce the best contest possible.


Source & More: www.timesonline.co.uk

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