Paul Tatton |
One of the few problems the club has experienced since moving grounds has been the cultivation of the new playing surface. The wicket has played well on the whole, but in certain games it has suffered with an inconsistent bounce, a problem groundsman Paul Tatton now feels he has got to the bottom of as he explained “we were conscious there were troughs running across the square so we decided to ‘Koro’ the top off last October (watch example).
These troughs were exactly 12 feet apart made by the vehicle that was used when laying the square that would have gone across the playing surface and from stump to stump, but it looked like conditions at the time didn’t allow it to finish stump to stump on the final pass”.
As well as being ‘Koro’d’, additional loam has been laid and the ground has been re-seeded. However Paul is now playing catch-up and a lot depends on the kind of weather we get between now and the start of the season on 23rd April. “The weather has changed since my playing days” he said, “we seem to get extreme water levels one minute, and droughts the next”, then continued “also, obviously, at this time of the year we get a lot of frost, which is normally good for established tracks, as the water expands when it freezes and pushes the ground up, but it is not good for new grounds, really we now need a bit of warm weather as we have just re-seeded with five bags of good quality seed and need some root depth, but it is still too cold for germination at present”. Having said that, Paul is confident he will get it right before long as he enthused “if it is dry and we get some grass through, the uneven bounce should go”.
Lancashire CCC have also been keeping a check on the ground with a view to using Westhoughton as an ‘out ground’ this season and were particularly impressed, on a recent visit, with the three pitches in the centre of the square that have been earmarked to be also used as county wickets. All in all the next few months are critical for the quality of the square and a lot depends on Paul getting it right.
It can’t be underestimated what the likes of Lancashire CCC would bring to the town if they begin to use Westhoughton on a regular basis, but they are unlikely to use it if the wickets aren’t right. However the message from the groundsman is simple “it will be spot on but we need to be patient”
