Kent Cricket Pays Its Last Respects To Groundsman

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Kent Cricket Pays Its Last Respects To Groundsman: Kent’s cricketing community has paid its final respects to a much-loved former groundsman.

Kent Cricket Pays Its Last Respects To Groundsman

Cecil “Sammy” Fidler, who died last month aged 82, turned up for his job interview on a tractor and went onto to become one of the best known faces around the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury.

With his distinctive nose and bald head, Cecil “Sammy” Fidler was as distinctive as some of the cricketing greats he prepared pitches for when Kent was littered with test internationals like Derek Underwood, Mike Denness, Alan Knott and Asif Iqbal.

Mr Fidler funeral took place at Barham Crematorium, attended by many mourners connected with county cricket.

He had worked for Canterbury City Council until the late 1970s, when he was offered an interview by former Kent Cricket secretary Les Ames.

Arriving on a tractor, he was offered a job, and went to work with head groundsman Brian Fitch until stepping down in the early 1990s.

Mr Fitch said: “Sam was a very good assistant and a real character. He would come in at all hours to check on the covers and work on the ground.

“He would usually look after the outfield and practice square and maintain the stands – tidying up and putting out chairs before matches. He was known all over the circuit.

“He was different and had a great relationship with Kent players and the opposition.

“He would clean the players’ pads and boots like a dressing room attendant – we didn’t have them in the early days.

“We had one tractor and four mowers and had to move the covers on our own.”

Former Simon Langton schoolboy Dominic Potts was a regular visitor to the ground. The 42-year-old said: “We often went into the ground after the tea break to watch the first eleven.

“Sammy was just one of those faces you always associated with being at the cricket.

“If he was in town, you would always point him out that he was one of the groundsman from the cricket.

“We worshipped the cricket club as kids and Sammy was part of the furniture there.”

Former Kent and England fast bowler Dean Headley posted on Facebook: “Sam was such a wonderful bloke. RIP fella.”

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New ECHO Lithium Ion Hedge Trimmer

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New ECHO Lithium Ion Hedge Trimmer: ECHO have introduced a new hedge trimmer, the DHC-200 to their 50V Lithium Ion battery series which also includes trimmers and power blowers.

New ECHO Lithium Ion Hedge Trimmer

Like all ECHO products this hedge trimmer has built-in features which take into consideration the environment in which it will be working and operator productivity. As a Lithium Ion product, the hedge trimmer offers clean battery power whilst providing performance equal to its petrol counterparts. It’s also built to the same professional standard as ECHO’s petrol hedge trimmers with their reputation for being powerful, tough and durable.

“The ecological features of the new DHC-200, as with all the ECHO Lithium Ion series products,” say ECHO “offer contractors and professional landscapers exceptional benefits. The low noise makes them ideally suited to use in noise-sensitive areas such as schools and nursing homes. Low emissions are beneficial in their use in parks, nature reserves and organic gardens.”

There are other considerations such as reduced maintenance costs due to fewer moving parts, easy-to-use controls with no recoil start, no more fuel filling or cold starting. The DHC-200 just needs charging up and it’s ready to go. It’s lightweight and very comfortable to use, thanks to the ergonomic design of the front handle which helps manoeuvrability, and it can be used for long periods with little fatigue. Gardeners trimming ornamental hedges can count on the variable speed control for precision cutting and optimized run-time. The 62cm double-sided precision cut blades provide a clean cut with a long-lasting sharpness for a beautiful finish. The DHC-200 uses energy efficient motor controls to manage motor speed, power delivery and battery temperature for improved cutting performance and battery life.

The DHC-200 comes with a 2Ah battery and rapid charger as standard, with an optional 4Ah battery for a longer run time. The rapid battery charger ensures the 2Ah battery is boosted to 80% capacity in 24 minutes and the 4Ah in 48 minutes. It’s also a hedge trimmer that is clean to use and store and there’s no need to store and mix two-stroke fuel. The two-year professional use and 5-year domestic warranty shows that ECHO are extremely confident in their machines. This confidence continues in its 50V battery range with a two-year warranty on all 50V lithium ion batteries.

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