Tag Archive for: County

Hybrid pitches to be used in County Championship

Hybrid pitches to be used in County Championship: Hybrid pitches will be used for the first time in the 2024 County Championship season.

Read the full article from The Guardian here

Hybrid pitches to be used in County Championship

Hybrid pitches to be used in County Championship

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Are County cricket pitches soft targets?

Are County cricket pitches soft targets?: It is no surprise that the standard of County Championship pitches has once again been thrust into the spotlight following England’s capitulation in Australia.

Read the full article from Cricbuzz here

Are County cricket pitches soft targets?

Are County cricket pitches soft targets?

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Agrigem partners up with county FA’s

Agrigem partners up with county FA’s: Agrigem have announced several new partnership agreements with County Football Associations, which enable affiliated clubs to access special prices on a wide range of grass pitch‐related products.

Whether clubs are creating a brand‐new pitch, improving their current playing surface or trying to increase the number of games they can play each week, Agrigem’s unique understanding of both professional and grassroots pitches ensures that all affiliated clubs receive fantastic service and support in developing, improving and maintaining their pitches.

Agrigem partners up with county FA's

Agrigem partners up with county FA’s

In addition to the highest level of technical advice and customer service, affiliated clubs receive a discount on all products such as fertilisers, grass seed, selective weed control, top dressing and line marking paint.

Agrigem’s Sales Manager, Martin Ford, who is a grassroots volunteer himself said; “We are thrilled that we have been able to partner with so many Regional FA’s. In addition to Lincolnshire, we also now work with Amateur FA, Northumberland, North Riding & most recently West Riding. Our “Putting the Grass Into Grassroots” initiative has been extremely successful and engaging with volunteers has reaped rewards for so many clubs already. Adam Grantham joined us last year as Technical Consultant for Sports Turf, and his vast knowledge from his experience as Grounds Manager at Reading FC has been invaluable to so many – myself included!”

Adam writes a monthly blog on a range of seasonal topics which is shared to affiliated clubs, and in addition to being available for practical help and support the team attend monthly forums and events wherever possible.

Martin continued “Having the right product at an affordable price is one thing, but having access to one of the country’s top grounds people really shows our commitment to grassroots sport, not just the professional game.”

Lincolnshire FA were the first partnership on board and immediately saw an impact, even during the pandemic. The two parties are now forging ahead with even more innovation in their offering.

Adam Thurston, Football Development Manager, Lincolnshire FA: “Agrigem have been in partnership with Lincolnshire FA for over a year now. We have worked together on many aspects of improving natural turf pitches in partnership with our clubs, not only through technical advice and supply of materials, but on areas that will really innovate how our clubs can access information and the right products for what they need.

Martin, Adam and the team really understand the issues and processes that grassroots clubs face and do their upmost to make things work as smoothly and quickly as possible for the volunteers who are giving their valuable time to improve their local pitches.”Since The Lincolnshire FA joined, Agrigem have also welcomed the Amateur Football Association, Northumberland, North Riding and West Riding Football Associations with ongoing discussions with several more associations.

To take advantage of this offer or discuss how Agrigem can support the development, improvement or maintenance of your grass pitches, please contact Martin Ford at martin.ford@agrigem.co.uk

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Ex-Cricketer Criticises County Pitches

Ex-Cricketer Criticises County Pitches: England batting coach Mark Ramprakash believes county pitches are not helping create top-order batsmen for Test cricket, labeling them ‘inexplicable’.

England have been bowled out for 77, 246, 187 and 132 in the first two Tests against Windies to slip to a series defeat and will now try to avoid a whitewash in St Lucia from Saturday.

Ex-Cricketer Criticises County Pitches

Asked by Sky Sports‘ Ian Ward whether domestic surfaces were allowing top-order players to hone their craft, Ramprakash said: “In a word, no.
“I’m trying to be diplomatic here but the stats would say fewer batsmen are getting 1,000 runs, let alone 1,500, in county cricket.

“Is that a lack of skill? Maybe – but I’d suggest it is more to do with ‘a quick game’s a good game’. We are playing four-day games in April when conditions are tough, pitches have a lot of grass on them.

“I went to Lord’s last year on July 25 for Middlesex versus Warwickshire and the pitch was indistinguishable from the outfield and Middlesex were 70-7 at lunch. That was after five weeks of 30-degree heat.

“It’s just inexplicable – I don’t know how groundsmen can possibly justify the pitches we are playing on at the moment.

“We are looking for batsmen with good technique and concentration to bat time – to get through the new ball and build an innings.

“Are we creating the right conditions for that, with four four-day games in April, four in September and not much in between?

“There is a huge emphasis on white-ball cricket, the excitement, smacking it into the stands. It’s great to watch but is it to the detriment of the art of batting? I would suggest yes.”

Ramprakash also cited tour preparation as a reason for England’s batting woes in Barbados and Antigua as they slumped to 381-run and 10-wicket defeats respectively to relinquish the Wisden Trophy.

Joe Root’s side played just a pair of two-day warm-up games against a Cricket West Indies President’s XI before they faced Jason Holder’s men at Kensington Oval.

Click here to read the original article

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Groundsman Nets County Award

Groundsman Nets County Award: A football groundsman involved in the sport for over 60 years has won a county award.

Gerry Williams, head groundsman at Collingham’s Station Road base, received several nominations for Nottinghamshire FA Groundsman Of The Year.

Groundsman Nets County Award

He has now been put forward for the national title.

“Reading comments about how people appreciate the work you put into the ground is very nice,” Williams said.

“It is hard work, especially with the number of matches we have on these pitches, but I would not be doing it if I did not enjoy it.”

Both Collingham and Newark Town play home games at Station Road in the Central Midlands League North.

Around 90 matches have been played there this season.

Ricky Stevenson, business development manager at the Nottinghamshire FA, said: “The weather has been unprecedented and it is people like Gerry who help keep football being played.

“He is one of those who work incredibly hard behind the scenes. He thoroughly deserves to be recognised.”

Williams won a Kombi line-marker and Super C paint from sponsors Fleet Line Markers.

Click here to read the original article

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Etesia Appoint County Machinery

Etesia Appoint County Machinery: Etesia UK has announced the appointment of Country Machinery Ltd, based in Driffield, East Yorkshire as its latest dealer.

Country Machinery, a family run business providing sales, services repairs and parts for all grounds care machinery, has enjoyed rapid growth since its establishment in 2012 – as managing director Karl Terry explains.

Etesia Appoint County Machinery

“Initially I started working for a local dealer and then I came out of the trade for a short period before setting up by myself. I started with a single garage, then went to a triple garage and as of September last year I took the plunge and rented a purpose-built retail unit. Also, last year Thomas Sissions, an agricultural engineer who has worked with Claas, McCormick, Case and New Holland, came in as my business partner.

“We’ve got dealerships with some great brands and the recent Etesia partnership is a sign of how far we have come. Everything is just going in the right direction.”

Karl, having been in the grounds care industry for the majority of his working history, revealed that Etesia is a brand he has been keen on adding to his portfolio for a long time and that a visit to SALTEX last year proved to be the ideal opportunity.

“We met Etesia at SALTEX and I approached Andrew Roberts (northern area sales manager) on the stand and explained that I was keen on adding the Etesia products to our portfolio. Everything just moved on from there.

“I’ve known the Etesia brand for a long time and the whole range of equipment is exceptionally good. They are like Swiss Army Knives – they are so versatile and are built well. The warranty terms are good, so it was a sort of no-brainer because it compliments everything else we have in our portfolio.”

With immediate effect Country Garden Machinery will now be supplying the complete range of Etesia pedestrian and ride-on mowers along with the Attila range of brushcutters and Karl believes that they will be a big hit with his customer base.

“When we first started we were only working in a 15 mile radius but now we are covering a 50 mile radius from base. Word of mouth is spreading in a big way and as well as domestic customers we are mainly covering the high end market where people are making a living from using machines like these. Every model in the Etesia range is ideal for the commercial market and I am confident that the machines will be hugely popular with existing and new potential customers.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk.

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