- South Dartmoor back to winning ways in cups
- Tom Allin tournament raised more than £5,000 for air ambulance
- Taverners kit bag delivered to Sri Lankan youngsters
- Devon trying to contact the class of 56
- Paceman Tshepo running in Virgin London Marathon
- Five Devon women in Western Storm squad for Kia Super League
- Registration night for all ages at Topsham on Monday
- Lots pouring in for auction at Allin Memorial tournament
- Thames Valley Gentlemen Cricket Club
- Bradninch add Argentinian flavour to Devon League
- Ipplepen youth registration night on Friday
- Final call for Groundsmans first seminar this year
- Devon League official tackling London Marathon for charity
- Bovey on familiar territory in Aaron Printers Cup
- Brockman Cup - Cup Kings lie in wait for holders
- Shepherd Trust helps Kingsbridge build for sustainable future
- DCL - Umpire Appointments 2016 (May 7th - July 2nd)
- Long standing records beaten
- North Devon see off Paignton chase
DCGA Home Page
The Devon Cricket 2015 Devon Cricket Groundman's Association Report
Does your club value its groundsman enough? The quality of the pitch that we play our games of cricket on is fundamental to the enjoyment of our game, but do we really appreciate the hours of work, backed by skills and knowledge, that our club groundsman puts in?
For 2016 the Devon Cricket Groundsman’s Association are planning to provide more training opportunities to help and support club groundsmen across the entire county. The programme, which will be published on the Devon Cricket website later in the year, will include workshops on-
• Spring work on the cricket square and the preparation of pitches
• Mid-season work on the square, including the recovery and maintenance of pitches
• End of Season work including the recovery of pitches and renovation of the cricket square at the end of the season.
We’ll also be looking to put the Devon Cricket Groundsman’s Association (DCGA) on a more formal footing by holding an Annual General Meeting, which will also be an opportunity to share the latest on groundsmanship with Devon Clubs.
Working with all of the Cricket Leagues across Devon we’ll be looking to identify key contacts in every club and explore ways of sharing knowledge through social media networks and the new Devon Cricket website.
So what did we get up to in 2015?
In 2015 there were three seminars held. The first in April was led by Martin Ford. Martin manages the Performance Quality Standards scheme on behalf of the England and Wales Cricket. The workshop, which was held at Sidmouth Cricket Club, attracted both groundsmen and umpires, to look at the fundamentals of ‘what makes a good pitch’.
The second was hosted by Shaldon Optimists Cricket Club and held during mid-season to look at aspects of machinery maintenance and pitch repair.
Finally in September it was time to ‘put the square to bed’ at Abbotskerswell. Rob Donnelly, Regional Manager for the Institute of Groundsmanship visited the event as did Devon Garden Machinery who have been long term supports of the work of the Association.
Throughout 2015 Devon’s team of Pitch Advisors have been active. Led by the DCGA chairman, Charlie Woolnough, the team have helped clubs with some of the more technical issues around the care and maintenance of cricket square.
In 2016 we’re all looking forward to working with more clubs and their groundsmen. If you like club to be put in touch with more information then please contact the DCGA secretary, Ed Leverton on 01752 774188.
