BASIS Launch New Standard

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BASIS Launch New Standard: BASIS, an independent standard setting and auditing organisation, have launched a new standard aimed at the professional domestic lawn care sector. The Lawn Assured Standard will help to ensure a consistent and high level of practice within the professional lawn care sector. 

Lindsay Smith Boam, BASIS logistics manager, explains that all individuals applying pesticides are expected to work sustainably, effectively and efficiently, in order to protect themselves, the general public and the environment. BASIS Launch New Standard

“The new voluntary standard has been launched in response to industry demand, and aims to help domestic lawn care contractors demonstrate that they’re operating in a responsible manner to both the public and the regulatory authorities,” she says.

“The benchmarking standard will also help remove any variability across the sector, ensuring a consistent level of performance, as well as improving business credentials,” adds Lindsay.

“BASIS is encouraging, professionals to use the accreditation to prove and promote the quality and value of service to new and current customers.”

To become certified as a Lawn Assured, an organisation or company is expected to complete a self-audit, which covers key areas related to training and certification as well as health and safety regulations, and documentation, such as risk assessments.

Following completion, an on-site audit is required to verify the documentation and check compliance, and that the operator is working in a professional manner, in line with best practice.

Lindsay explains that although BASIS is not an enforcement body, the organisation aims to help companies to meet legal, regulatory and best practice standards. “Our assessment team is highly experienced and can advise and assist as part of the independent site-visit.”

To register for the new standard, or find out more please contact the BASIS office on 01335 343945 or visit the website at www.basis-reg.co.uk.

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Rugby Groundsman Honoured

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Rugby Groundsman Honoured: The great Bard of Welsh rugby, Max Boyce, was recently honoured at the Rugby Union Writers’ Club in London for his services to rugby.

The Glynneath RFC president joined Owen Farrell, Doddie Weir and Wharfedale RFC veteran Michael Harrison in being singled out in front of an audience that included World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, CEO Brett Gosper, WRU chairman Gareth Davies and CEO Martyn Phillips and British & Irish Lions legends Sir Ian McGeechan and Roger Uttley.

Rugby Groundsman Honoured
Farrell beat off the challenges of fellow Lions Maro Itoje, Sam Warburton and Jonathan Davies, as well as Exeter coach Rob Baxter, to carry off the RUWC Pat Marshall award for the rugby personality of the year. Ex-Scotland and Lions lock Weir, currently battling Motor Neurone Disease, won the RUWC Special Award, while Boyce and Harrison picked up tankards for their ‘Services to Rugby’.

Harrison played 655 games for Wharfedale and has spent 40 years on the club committee. Boyce can claim 30 years as president at Glynneath and has been the club groundsman for the past dozen or more years. He recently told Peter Jackson, of the Rugby Paper, about his life-long association with his home town team.

”I played a bit at scrum half for the youth team. I was very small and not very good. I also played at openside. Full of heart but not much pace,” recalled Max, of an era when Glynneath were the powerhouse in second class rugby in Wales and Bas Thomas’ ‘Invincibles’ were in the process of reeling off 55 consecutive wins.

A young Dai Morris was learning his trade at the club at the time and while a young Max dreamt of playing in the 1st XV, he is the first to admit he didn’t get very close. ”I didn’t get very close to a first team game, in fact, I was a long, long way away!”

But, as Peter Jackson put it: “There would be no limit to his talent in other directions as a troubadour par excellence with the gold discs and million album sales to prove it. Unable to change the shape of Welsh rugby, he changed the sound instead with his Hymns and Arias brought to a whole new continental audience by the success of the Wales football team at the Euros in France last summer.

“Unlike his constricted playing days, there has never been any limit on Boyce the entertainer, nor on his ability to sharpen new skills in the unlikeliest spheres of expertise. As well as Boyce the bit-part player, miner, musician, comedian, lyricist and perceptive recorder of social history in song, another string has to be added to a very long bow: Boyce the Agronomist.

“His knowledge of grass passes all understanding. His role of honorary groundsman makes him arguably the ultimate one-club man, not that Boyce himself would dare lay claim to such a title. But how many at his age – 74 earlier this season – undertake a job which entails rolled up sleeves and muddied hands?

“Most settle for the less perspiring role as presidential figurehead. The Bard combines his club presidency with the challenging position of groundsman, tackling it with an enthusiasm generated by a lifelong passion for Glynneath and its rugby club.

Max explained where his ‘green fingers’ came from. “A long time ago when I was captain of the local golf club, the committee decided to dig up six greens. I got in touch with the British Turf people and their head agronomist. I didn’t know then what an agronomist was.

“I applied their professional advice to what little knowledge I had at the time to the rugby pitch. It was in a dire state, full of weeds and terrible drainage problems. Often the bottom 20 yards would be under a foot of water.
“Everyone piled in, all twelve of us from all walks of life in a great team effort. We’ve been looking after it now for 20 years. It’s my little hobby and I have to say the standard of pitches in the Championship is pretty good – but not as good as ours. It’s in great nick.”

So, for once, it was Max Boyce the Welsh rugby devotee, rather than Max the great entertainer, who was rewarded for efforts this week. He followed in the footsteps of Treorchy RFC stalwart Bryan James, who was honoured in a similar fashion last year, and received his award from Wale and Lions assistant coach Rob Howley.

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Golf Club In Top Condition

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Golf Club In Top Condition: Finley Golf Club is being kept in top condition, all thanks to its dedicated volunteers.

When visitors arrive at the course, it doesn’t take long to understand why the club is considered among the best courses in the Murray River region.

Golf Club In Top Condition

Finley Golf Club captain Rand Wilson described it as one of the Murray’s best kept secrets.

‘‘I’ve spoken to tourists from the USA and UK who say they’re shocked a town the size of Finley has a golf course and they’re just as shocked with the beautiful condition the course is in,’’ he said.

‘‘We have over 160 members and they all volunteer their time.

‘‘The only paid employees we have are part time bar staff and full time greenkeeper.

‘‘Our motto is ‘the friendly club’ so it’s natural for our members to help out when they can.’’

One of the club’s longest serving volunteers Pam Angove said without the dedication of the the volunteers the club wouldn’t survive.

‘‘The golf club is a great asset for our town and to lose it would be devastating,’’ she said.

‘‘Our president Deb Pyke has managed to gain several grants to help upgrade our facilities such as the kitchen.

‘‘I love volunteering. Every time I come here I have such great fun helping out.’’

The course is under constant care from the greenkeeper and volunteers that help mow the lawns and clean up the course of tree branches and debris.

Maintenance volunteer Barry Wilson said the course is in the best condition it has been in.

‘‘A while ago work needed to be done and the many volunteers like to present a top quality course,’’ he said.

‘‘The course in the last month has been in top condition.

‘‘Trees have been pruned and you can see right through the entire course.

‘‘When we hosted the Riverina Ladies Golf Association Championship we had constant positive feedback of players who want to come back because they admire such a great course.

‘‘Finley should be proud of its golf club.’

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IOG Advises Pay Rise

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IOG Advises Pay Rise: The leading membership organisation for those involved in the management of sports pitches, landscape and amenity facilities in the UK, the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG), is recommending a 2.5 per cent increase in grounds staff’s national minimum salary bands for 2018. 

But the IOG also advises that a 2.5 per cent increase would, in real terms, equate to an increase of just 0.1 per cent when the projected Consumer Price Index (CPIH) is accounted for.

IOG Advises Pay Rise

However, the IOG says the increase would:

Maintain a sustainable pay structure for all grounds staff
Account for inflationary pressures, and
Ensure grounds staff pay is in line with overall market trends. Most pay awards in the private and leisure sectors are predicted to be two to three per cent in 2018.

Based on independent, industry-wide research, the IOG recommendations also suggest a two per cent extension to the top of each pay band, to allow for greater professional development and to reward experience.

The IOG recommended national basic salary bands for 2018 are:

Grounds manager
£34,909-£54,079

Heads groundsperson
£29,773-£40,863

Deputy head groundsperson/sole charge
£24,358-£31,088

Groundsperson (skilled)
£22,779-£29,059

Groundsperson
£18,250-£23,281

Junior groundsperson
£15,517 (Age 17)

Junior groundsperson
£12,886 (Age 16).

These bands reflect minimum recommended basic salary payment and are based on a 37.5-hour week. Bonuses, overtime and subsistence payments have not been included and are therefore additional.

The IOG also recommends that employers ensure they meet their obligations in terms of maintaining a healthy work-life balance and ensure fair payment for overtime worked – by agreement about the balance between overtime pay, time off in lieu or flexible working.

Regional pay allowances continue to be incorporated into the salary bands and the IOG recommends that higher cost areas of the country should make salary awards at the upper levels of the bands. Regional differences are:

Inner London
£3,751

Outer London
£2,240

Fringe areas
£670-£1,345.

It is expected that the recommended minimum pay rate for a groundsperson in London should be £20,000 – though there is an expectation that most in this category would already be paid above that, in line with previous recommendations.

In addition, £550 per annum should be paid to those in junior groundsperson and groundsperson bands for the successful completion of IOG qualifications such as NVQ Levels 1 and 2, to encourage recruitment and ensure an ongoing focus on training and professional development. With low productivity forecast over the medium term, it is desirable to further incentivise the acquisition of skills, the IOG adds.

The recommendations have been made against a backdrop of economic uncertainty caused by Brexit and a revised (downwards) expectation for GDP growth in 2018 (from 1.7 per cent to 1.4 per cent). Poor productivity is a key factor in economic growth and, while this is notoriously difficult to measure in the leisure industry, it is likely to be a continued depressor of growth.

For the year to October 2017, the CPIH (Consumer Price Inflation – including owner-occupier housing costs) recorded inflation at 2.8 per cent, while the Retail Price Index forecasts 3.6 per cent. In addition, interest rates rose from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent in November 2017 and the National Living Wage, for people over 25 years old, also increased to £7.50 per hour in April 2017. It will rise again by 4.4 per cent, to £7.83, in April 2018.

Average earnings have been lower in the public sector than in the private sector since 2015 – provisional estimates for average earnings put public pay growth at 1.8 per cent compared to 2.3 per cent in the private sector – but in September the government announced the end of the one per cent pay freeze for average public sector pay awards. This year government will consider recommendations of the Pay Review Bodies to inform pay awards.

The research was carried out independently by Myriad Research (www.myriadresearch.co.uk) using a number of data sources for analysis.

While the IOG salary survey reflects the diversity of the industry, the IOG is aiming to undertake a more in-depth analysis of pay scales in elite stadia management, to compare and contrast with global salaries for iconic sports venues. This new level of research will be part of the industry-wide research that the IOG will be undertaking this year.

For more information, visit: www.iog.org

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Greenkeeper Retires After 45 Years

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Greenkeeper Retires After 45 Years: Eaton Golf Club recently came to the end of an era, as Mick Lathrope retired from his position as head greenkeeper after an impressive 45 years of service.

Green-keeping colleagues and members from Eaton and other Norfolk clubs attended a presentation ceremony at the club to hear a warm tribute from club manager Peter Johns.

Greenkeeper Retires After 45 Years

He said Lathrope’s career had begun as an apprentice at Maylands Golf Club, in Havering, Essex before moving to Eaton in 1972.

His lengthy spell with the club saw him go on to work with 46 club captains, 46 ladies’ captains, 24 club presidents and 23 lady presidents.

Johns told well-wishers: “Mick has overseen many changes to the golf course.

“He has been an extremely conscientious worker, balancing the needs of the golfer with the natural beauty of our wonderful 106 acres of land – so much so that in 2005 Eaton was awarded the prestigious Golf Environment Award.”

The ceremony was also attended by several members of Mick’s family, including his daughter Jane who said in her own tribute that there would be an enormous gap in the family’s life without their association with Eaton.

However, there would be other things ahead for her father: fishing, playing golf and in particular enjoying long rides into the country on his 1961 BSA Super Rocket motorbike, which will all keep him busy in the years ahead.

His successor at Eaton is Rob Ransome, 41, who lives in Pulham, with his wife and two children. He began as an assistant greenkeeper at Marriott Sprowston Manor and was promoted to head greenkeeper while at Diss.

“As a 16 handicap golfer myself, I appreciate the need to present the course really well and make sure it is always improving,” he said.

“I’m delighted to be at Eaton, a course that I always enjoyed playing.”

Meanwhile, Roger Garwood, the outgoing club captain of Barnham Broom, presented a cheque for £3,000 – the money raised during his year in office – to Paul Daynes, the finance manager of the Norwich and Central Norfolk branch of Mind, the mental health charity. He stipulated the money should be used in Norfolk for young sufferers.

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Groundsman Set For Test Debut

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Groundsman Set For Test Debut: As Adam Lewis embarked on his first day in the job he bought lunch and sat in one of the grandstands at the SCG alone, with the famous venue all to himself.

“I just went ‘wow’,” he admits, saying he found the experience of walking into his new workplace as magical.

Groundsman Set For Test Debut

On Thursday, there will barely be an empty seat with a sold-out crowd of more than 40,000 in attendance for the first day of the fifth and final Ashes Test.

The series between Australia and England may have been clinched, but for Lewis, only the ninth SCG curator in the 160-year history of the ground, it is occasion he has been waiting his entire working life for.

It is less than two months since he took up the role, replacing his long-time predecessor Tom Parker, and the Sydney Test is his maiden first-class pitch at the SCG.

“I think it’s going to be overwhelming, watching that first ball bowled,” Lewis said. “There will be a lot of relief. But I’m excited. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Lewis, installed in the coveted position after years as the lead groundsman at Hurstville Oval, arrived as part of a restructure that also saw a grounds manager, Justin Groves, recruited from Adelaide Oval to oversee operations at the SCG as well as Allianz Stadium next door.

He is humbled by the history of the place and the legacy left by curators and pitches past, as well as players. The eight curators before him include Ned Gregory, who played in the first Test in 1877 and lived in the old SCG curator’s cottage around the time of the birth of his son, Syd, who would go on to play 58 Tests for Australia.

Groves, too, is conscious of the great figures that have walked on the turf before them, and has a personal connection to the greatest of them.

With his grandfather, the former Australian Cricket Board chairman Phil “Pancho” Ridings, he visited Sir Donald Bradman at his Adelaide home when he was a boy, having a bat signed that is now on display inside his office beneath the stand at the SCG that bears the legendary batsman’s name.

“I went to his house and got it done. My grandpa took me there one day. I would have been nine or 10, I reckon,” Groves says. “He gave me some Fritz and sauce and a glass of lemonade so I was pretty happy as a young fella.”

In his 15 years at Adelaide Oval Groves also had “quite a bit” to do with a young groundsman there by the name of Nathan Lyon, witnessing the meteoric rise of the Australian off-spinner first-hand.

“I was one of his bosses when he first came over there,” Groves said.

“He was great, a good young kid coming through. He was playing a bit of A-grade cricket in our competition and was sort of plucked out of obscurity to bowl in the [interstate] T20s. We were quite close in Adelaide and we still text each other and try and catch-up whenever we can when he’s not on tour.”

Lewis prepared wickets for Sheffield Shield and domestic one-day matches at Hurstville, and got to know some of the country’s leading players including Test captain Steve Smith.

The ground also played host to Australian sessions under his watch including a notorious one in 2016 when Mitchell Starc was rushed to hospital with deep cuts in his leg following a freak training accident. The incident was no fault of the Hurstville staff but it was a frightening moment, Lewis recalls.

“Steve Smith and [David] Warner came racing over to me and they were white. I thought ‘this is bad’,” he said.

“We just called the ambulance straight away.”

Lewis and Groves are putting the finishing touches on their first Sydney Test wicket with pitches and curators in the news. The Boxing Day Test strip was widely panned and on Tuesday night was officially labelled as “poor” by the International Cricket Council.

Groves does not believe what transpired in Melbourne puts any additional pressure on them at the SCG and feels for the ground staff at the MCG.

“I feel very compassionate towards them,” he said. “You know the work that goes into a cricket pitch and you put your heart and soul on the line for it.

“To get the feedback that they got is disappointing but obviously as a curator you’ve got to cop that on the chin and work out ways to move forward and make sure you’re producing the best pitch you can every time you go out there.

“We’re just going to produce the pitch that we think is going to have a bit in it for everybody.”

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Madrid Demand Best Of Groundsman

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Madrid Demand Best Of Groundsman: “The expectations of Real Madrid are to have the best,” they could easily be the words from a famous player or coach, but it is instead the club’s groundsman Paul Burgess who is reflecting on the demanding culture at the Spanish club.

Burgess’s work will be seen by an estimated television audience of 650 million people when newly crowned world champions Madrid host Barcelona in El Clasico on Saturday (1200GMT, 1500EAT).

Madrid Demand Best Of Groundsman

However, he is used to dealing with that pressure having been lured to Real in Galatico style in 2009 after winning Premier League groundsman of the year three times in 12 years at Arsenal.

“Real Madrid and Spain is like the dream move for anybody whether it be the groundsman, the footballer or the press officer,” Burgess told AFP on a cold and grey Madrid morning with preparations for the Clasico in full swing.

“That’ll be the sunniest place in Madrid today,” he added pointing to the rows of high-powered lights beaming down on one side of a pitch that has to cope with plus 40 degree heat in summer and freezing temperatures in winter.

“For El Clasico there is obviously more build-up, more cameras on the side of the pitch, everyone is talking about it so there is more pressure from the outside.”

A two-week layoff since Real’s last home game, though, has ensured Burgess’s best work will be on show for the big day.

“The pitch for El Clasico will be better than say a Champions League game because for a Champions League game you have the opposition training the night before,” he said.

“Going into El Clasico we’ve got a two-week build up, the conditions look pretty good so the pitch will be in great condition not only for Real Madrid but also for Barcelona. It will be a nice pitch and the best team will win.”

The best team in recent times has tended to be Madrid, who have won five trophies in a calendar year in 2017 for the first time in the club’s storied history.

“100 percent,” joked the affable 39-year-old when quizzed as to how much success is down to him. “I think the pitch certainly adds value, but the bottom line is the pitch is the same for both teams and it is down to the team to perform on the day. We do our best to give them what they want.”

‘SERIOUS MONEY’ AT STAKE

Unlike Real’s star names and faces, though, Burgess tends to only get the criticism when things go wrong rather than acclaim as the trophies roll in.

“The only time I get feedback is if there is a problem. That is the correct way. I don’t go round looking for compliments, I don’t say to Cristiano (Ronaldo) ‘nice goal’. That’s his job and my job is to produce a good surface.”

He recalls a “tough” conversation with Jose Mourinho on the eve of the Portuguese’s first match in charge in 2010 due to a summer “outbreak of disease”.

However, the importance of a perfect pitch isn’t just reflected in how good it looks on TV, but can be vital in keeping multi-million euro players fit.

“They are paying serious money for these guys and they want them playing football, not injured. Something like 80 percent of injuries are non-contact with another player, so the only contact is with the grass.

“That doesn’t mean 80 percent of injuries are the fault of the grass, it could be bad diet, fatigue, but certainly a percentage is down to the pitch so it is very important we have dialogue between the medical department and my department to try and create consistent, comfortable surfaces for them to play on.”

That desire to stop avoidable injuries has seen Burgess travel the world looking at the latest technologies to bring back to the Bernabeu and Madrid’s vast Valdebebas training complex.

“I’m always trying to be a bit of a pioneer in my industry. By doing that you do make mistakes as well, but you try to be at the forefront of any new technology and Real Madrid reap the rewards of that.

“They invest in that, they should be applauded for what they are doing. They want to be the best and want to do everything they can to be the best.”
Just like for players and coaches, that investment brings increased pressure.

“When you are working for a big club it is more extreme. If we win it is the best thing in the world, if we lose it’s a disaster.

“I’m just part of that, but we have more good days than bad days and that’s the important thing.”

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Wendron United Receive Grant

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Wendron United Receive Grant: Football and cricket clubs at Wendron United have been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Premier League and FA Facilities Fund to provide new ground maintenance equipment.

With funds also raised by the youth section, money totalling £30,000 has enabled the club to buy a new tractor and grass cutting attachment, as well as other associated pitch maintenance equipment.

Wendron United Receive Grant

Wendron United chairman Peter Thorne, who this year won the Cornwall FA Groundsman of the Year award, said: “This funding together with those made available by the Pennon Environmental Fund (£13,866), local business Membly Hall Hotel and internal club funds, especially from our vibrant youth football section, has allowed the club to significantly enhance our ground maintenance equipment.

“This gives our small band of dedicated volunteers the ability to keep the grass pitches in good order and thereby allow more football to be played throughout the season and on better surfaces, so players can improve their skill levels.”

The Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund aims to improve the experience for regular players as well as attracting new players to the game.

It is delivered by the Football Foundation, the country’s largest sports charity. Founded in 2000, it is the largest sports charity in the UK funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government, via Sport England.

It develops new and refurbished grassroots sports facilities in order to improve the quality and experience of playing sport at the grassroots level.

Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 15,000 grants worth more than £580m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £800m – £1.4bn of investment into the grassroots game.

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “Congratulations should go to Wendron United FC for working with the Cornwall FA to secure this Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund grant.”

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Sacked Groundsmen ‘Shell-Shocked’

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Sacked Groundsmen ‘Shell-Shocked’: The former KCOM Stadium groundsmen were unfairly dismissed by SMC, but the company does not have to pay the pair any compensation.

An employment tribunal has ruled that two sacked former KCOM Stadium groundsmen should not receive any compensation for losing jobs.

Sacked Groundsmen 'Shell-Shocked'

Long-serving pair Mark Harrison and Darrell Cook were sacked by the SuperStadium Management Company (SMC) in June.

They took their case for unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal hearing in October.

Three days before the hearing, the SMC conceded it had acted unfairly in dismissing the two men.

The concession was made on the basis that the company had not properly followed employment law during its internal disciplinary process.

However, during the four-day tribunal, the SMC argued it should not have to pay any compensation because the mens’ actions still justified immediate dismissal.

The company claimed Mr Cook carried out part-time work as a kitman for Hull FC during his normal SMC working hours.

It also alleged Mr Harrison, as his supervisor, allowed it to happen.

At the hearing, Mr Cook said he always carried on his Hull FC duties outside of SMC time.

The two men were able to mount an appeal case thanks to a crowd-funding campaign on social media.

Tribunal judge Rita Rogerson’s decision was to both parties earlier this afternoon.

It is expected to be officially published next week.

Ruling out compensation, her report is thought to conclude that Mr Cook was working for Hull FC during his SMC hours.

Neither the SMC or Mr Harrison or Mr Cook was available for comment.

However, a source close to the men said: “They are a bit shell-shocked.

“They technically won their appeal after the concession of unfair dismissal but are naturally disappointed at not being award compensation for losing their jobs.”

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Tribute To Cricket Groundsman Peter Green

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Tribute To Cricket Groundsman Peter Green: Peter Green was one of Huddersfield cricket’s most popular figures.

The 73-year-old gave a lifetime of dedication to Honley Cricket Club and only last month received the Drakes Huddersfield Cricket League’s highest award, the Fred Stallard Cup.

Cricket Club Stalwart Peter Green

Presented to an individual who has given long and outstanding service to his club and the game, guests at the league’s annual dinner gave a standing ovation when the award to ‘Mr Honley’ was announced.

The Drakes honour came just weeks after Peter received the Institute of Groundsmanship Special Recognition Award in front of 700 guests at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

He has been groundsman at Honley’s pristine Far End Lane ground for the past 40 years.

Peter, who was associated with Honley CC for over 60 years, will be sadly missed by the whole Huddersfield cricket community.

Born in Gilsland, Northumberland, in 1944 (because his father, Leslie, was stationed in the north east with the army at the time), Peter moved to Honley at the age of three – the Green family have been part of the village for centuries.

His father and uncles all played for the club and Peter, who went to Honley Junior School and Holmfirth Secondary (now High School), grew up loving cricket.

He couldn’t wait for his 12th birthday when he was officially allowed to join to play junior cricket and once through the gates he was never going to play anywhere else and his love for the club never waned.

After leaving school Peter worked as a painter and decorator before joining David Brown’s at Meltham, but he then joined The Post Office and worked as a postman until retiring eight years ago.

He married wife Isabel at St Mary’s Church in Honley in 1970. They had a guard of honour with cricket bats and hockey sticks because Isabel played hockey for Huddersfield Ladies and then Colne Valley Ladies.

They passed on their love of sport to sons Martin and James, both of whom have followed in their father’s footsteps and become stalwarts of the Honley club.

Peter had been encouraged by his father and uncles, who took a keen interest in his pathway through junior cricket in the 1950s to the Honley first team, and Peter did likewise for his sons.

In addition to his playing career, Peter served as groundsman, coach and committeeman and, having enjoyed a 50-year playing career, he was rewarded with the Lady Sykes Candlesticks in 1983 (son Martin received the same accolade in 2015).

Peter scored at least 6,711 senior runs and took 88 outfield catches. A talented wicketkeeper, he also had 154 dismissals behind the stumps and twice won the league wicketkeeping prize, the Cyril Thorpe Cup.

He became club groundsman in 1977 and continued in that role until his retirement, due to ill health, earlier this year.

Honley won the Greenwood Trophy (for most improved ground) on four occasions and Peter won the Tom Walker Trophy for best groundsman a record four times.

He forged a close working relationship with the Yorkshire County ground staff and his talents and dedication allowed Honley to regularly stage the Sykes Cup Final, league representative matches and Yorkshire junior games.

Receiving the award from the Institute of Groundsmanship really was the ultimate accolade for all that work.

While working full-time, playing every weekend and looking after the ground, Peter also found time to become a qualified junior coach, spending many hours at junior practice evenings and school indoor nets, not only helping his own lads to love the game, but countless other young players as well.

Family holidays have, for the last 38 years, included an annual trip to St Ives in Cornwall with good friends Bruce and Christine Jakeman – the last earlier this summer while Peter was still well enough to travel – but the Greens followed cricket all around the world.

They supported England on five Ashes tours to Australia – their favourite place being Sydney – in addition to watching the national side in the West Indies and South Africa, but they went to many other places to watch the game.

Peter’s funeral will be at Huddersfield Crematorium on Wednesday, December 20 (10.30am) and Isabel, Martin and James would like everyone to wear colour in celebration of his life.

That celebration will continue at Honley Cricket Club.

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