‘Giant tent’ Being Discussed To End Rain Delays In Cricket

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‘Giant tent’ Being Discussed To End Rain Delays In Cricket: Plans to stop rain delays at cricket matches by covering pitches with a giant mesh tent are being discussed by the sport’s governing bodies.

The Telegraph says an American company has approached the MCC and the English Cricket Board (ECB) with the idea.

The transparent mesh could be held up by wires attached to floodlights and a hot-air balloon in the centre.

An ECB spokesman told the BBC they were looking into “new technologies” but did not confirm any specific plans.

But the new MCC chief executive Guy Lavender says they are in conversation with ECB chief executive Tom Harrison in how they can partner up on the research.

Testing is at a very early stage and the technology is believed to be at least two years away from becoming a reality, with issues such as safety in high winds and water run-off to be considered.

“There are an enormous number of technical challenges and issues, but that’s not to say we shouldn’t look at it seriously,” said Lavender.

“It’s certainly not something that’s going to be viable initially but I think we have a role here at MCC to investigate and look at new technologies.

“It’s signalling our intent to think about new innovations and new technologies that can keep the game being played. This is the start of a journey of seeing what’s practical and what’s possible.”

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Gareth Bale Transforms Garden Into Incredible Golf Course

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Gareth Bale Transforms Garden Into Incredible Golf Course: A stunning aerial image of Gareth Bale’s transformed back garden has emerged after the Wales star had a replica of the iconic 17th hole at Sawgrass, Florida, built at his south Wales home.

Reports emerged two years ago the Wales and Real Madrid superstar was about to embark on a grand golf project in the grounds of his Vale of Glamorgan house.

A stunning aerial image of Gareth Bale’s transformed back garden has emerged after the Wales star had a replica of the iconic 17th hole at Sawgrass, Florida, built at his south Wales home.

To help drop his impressive single handicap even further, Bale, the former most expensive footballer on the planet, was believed to have sounded out top notch groundsmen in the South Wales area to become a full-time greenkeeper.

The new image shows what the first finished hole looks like, with Bale making himself the envy of golf fans around the world.

Bale’s love of golf came to the fore in the summer of 2015 when he helped Wales lift the Celebrity Cup for the very first time amid intense competition from England, Ireland and Scotland at the Celtic Manor.

And the soccer superstar is often a regular visitor to the Newport resort playing their blue riband Twenty Ten Course that staged the Ryder Cup seven years ago.

“I try to play as much golf as possible,” said Bale when news broke of his grand plans for a course at home two years ago.

“In fact, I’m obsessed with it. I’ve not really thought about what I’ll be doing in 20 years when I’m retired from football, but, hopefully, I will be playing golf.”

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Suppliers Welcome EU Decisions On Controlled Release Fertilisers

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Manufacturers of controlled release fertilisers have welcomed the voting through of key amendments to the EU Fertilisers Draft Regulation at a committee of the European Parliament.
Proposals suggested the polymer “shall be capable of undergoing physical, biological decomposition, such that most of it ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide (CO2), biomass and water. It shall have at least 90% of the organic carbon converted into CO2 in maximum 24 months, in a biodegradability test.”
The amendment changed this to: “48 months after the end of the claimed functionality period of the fertilizing product indicated on the label, and as compared to an appropriate standard in the biodegradation test.”
Polymers other than nutrient polymers may now be included for improving the stability of the CE marked fertilising products.
Another amendment was CE marked product containing polymers other than nutrient polymers shall be exempted “under the condition that the polymers are solely used as binding material for the fertilising product and they are not in contact with the soil”.
ICL marketing manager Dave Steward said: “The change is what we all wanted and we have been told that the arguments and the support that the UK gave was instrumental in making these amendments.”
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YouTuber Cooks Bacon In Lawn Mower Engine

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A YouTuber created an ingenious DIY hack on a lawnmower so that it cooks bacon while cutting the grass. The man behind the YouTube channel Project Farm said the idea was suggested to him in a comment by one of his followers.

In the video he replaces the engine oil with cooking oil and modifies the mower so that it’s able to fry the bacon, which he wraps in foil.

He made a see-through window for the crank case so he could watch the bacon cook and then added wire to secure the bacon, and put a picture of a pig on the end of each of the four corners.

The video then shows the man mowing the lawn when orange smoke comes out of the mower, which the man explains somehow means the bacon is ready.

He takes out the bacon and takes a couple of bites. ‘Wow, that’s pretty good,’ he said to the camera.

‘What a perfect situation. I can mow my lawn and cook bacon at the same time,’ he continued.

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Donald Trump Meets 11yo Boy Who Mowed White House Lawn

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Donald Trump Meets 11yo Boy Who Mowed White House Lawn: An 11-year-old boy got the lawn-mowing gig of a lifetime after writing to President Donald Trump and offering his services in the Rose Garden.

Frank Giaccio, who goes by the initials FX, was so focused on doing his job that he did not even notice when Mr Trump emerged from the White House to check out his work.

He kept right on pushing the mower in a long, straight row as Mr Trump walked alongside him.

When the boy finally paused, Mr Trump said “that’s the real future of the country right there — we’re lucky”.

FX, who lives in the Washington suburb of Falls Church, Virginia, had written to Mr Trump to tell him about his neighbourhood lawncare business.

In the letter that White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders read to reporters, FX said it would be his “honour to mow the White House lawn”, and he admired Mr Trump’s business acumen.

The boy also sent a menu of his lawnmowing services, which include weed-whacking.

Impressed, Mr Trump invited FX to the White House.

Mr Trump asked FX what he wanted to be when he grows up.

“A Navy seal! Well, he’ll make it,” Mr Trump exclaimed, as he stood with FX and his father.

“We’ll bring them into the Oval Office. Maybe he’ll be president.”

“It’s probably the biggest day of my life so far,” FX said afterward.

He added that his day was “jam-packed” with media interviews, watering plants, mowing the lawn and visiting the Oval Office with his dad.

FX said he normally charges $8 per lawn but decided to mow the White House lawn free of charge.

For this job, FX donned goggles and ear plugs and pushed a mower belonging to the National Park Service.

He got to keep the black gardening gloves he used as a souvenir.

Mr Trump later tweeted his thanks, adding that National Park Service gave him an A plus for his work.

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