"Looking back, those who did some pre-season work in February may have got away with it. There was a wet January, wet March then normal weather in April, May and June before a return to the wet weather in July and August.

That being said pitches played very well and as a committee, we had little cause for concern. Most of the problems were weather-related by storms blowing covers off pitches, torrential downpours and of course the boundary issues.

Looking forward to 2024 February has been the wettest on record with football and rugby cancelled so everyone is behind with their prep. Please don’t panic, whatever you do DO NOT go straight on with the heavy roller as it will just create a crust and pitches will be low and slow for the rest of the summer. Just try to build up gradually and consolidate the square. The aim is to get the air spaces reduced.

It’s too wet to roll if the roller leaves marks. Be careful with lowering the height of the grass. Take it down gradually. Please remember if you think it is too wet to do anything - it probably is.

There is a lot of information on the GMA toolkit site at Cricket Home | Grounds Management Toolkit (thegma.org.uk) "

Kind regards,

Simon Johnson

Rolling Advice

Hon Secretary Robert Jobson's CACG Report to the 2024 Cornwall Cricket League AGM

"Life became ever more challenging for Cornwall’s groundskeepers in 2023, as they grappled with extreme weather conditions, rising temperatures as well as costs and a requirement to make their boundaries as safe as possible without making already small grounds even smaller.

In the wake of a much-needed wet winter, one of the warmest and driest Februarys on record proved a false dawn: time-honoured plans to undertake the traditional pre-season rolling of squares in March were scuppered by prolonged downpours all the way into April.

While some groundskeepers in coastal locations were fortunate to have fast-drying pitches and outfields, enabling them to get their opening games on for mid-April, most alas were not and had to stay patient until the end of the month.

No sooner had conditions firmed up in the middle, as the sun blazed throughout May and June than many found themselves facing a safety dilemma after two players sustained hand and leg injuries while fielding on the boundaries at Holsworthy and Lanhydrock.

In previous seasons the ECB had advised groundskeepers to leave a 1 metre gap between their boundary rope/line and any hard surface or object (such as metal, stone, concrete or tarmac) to avert possible injury and litigation.

In 2023 however, the Cornwall Association of Cricket Groundskeepers was informed by the ECB that this recommended safety gap had been almost trebled to 2.74 metres - to the alarm of those entrusted with looking after Cornwall’s smaller grounds."

ECB ADVICE - BOUNDARY SAFETY

"The alarm gave way to confusion when the ECB went on to inform the CACG that this was safety guidance only, not a mandatory regulation. It required clubs to carry out risk assessments, mitigate perceived risks, communicate with players and do what they felt was necessary.

Most clubs in Cornwall appeared to heed these words and made adjustments where feasible to their boundaries, to reduce the risk of player injury. A few alas did not.

By the time arguments about this safety issue had subsided, the rain had returned with a vengeance during July and August, making it ever more difficult to prepare and protect pitches and consistently produce decent surfaces.

Low scores abounded. Long journeys were made in the expectation and hope of play being possible, only for the rain to return and persist, resulting in player outbursts and clubs making abortive claims for points.

To add to this woe, along came Storm Betty on August 18/19. Roll-on, roll-off covers in exposed places proved no match for her 70 mph gusts, resulting in soaked pitches and certain high-profile players, not known for lifting a finger to assist, openly berating volunteer groundskeepers.

Special congratulations go to the curators of Penzance, Roche, Wadebridge and Lanhydrock for achieving CACO end-of-season pitch marks of more than 80% and our thanks go to every volunteer groundskeeper and their helpers across Cornwall for continuing to toil in adversity.

Without them, there would have been no cricket."

Signed: Robert Jobson (CACG Hon Sec), January 2024.

Treasurer’s Report ( Caroline Fry). CACG's balance sheet shows income of £1,690 ( including subscriptions £1,320 and equipment hire of £370) and expenditure of £279.87. Net profit for the year: £1,410; Cash at Bank £8,960.42.

Auditor’s Report ( Kim Jepheart): “I have reviewed accounts for CACG, Oct 1, 2022, to Sept 30, 2023. I am satisfied that the records are a true reflection of the activities of the CACG.”

Discussion took place on ways of spending funds in the future to help Groundskeepers.

BHGS Report – Chris Gesto

Things are pretty stable this year. Fertilizers are dropping in price a little bit. Loam a slight increase. Grass Seed almost certainly an increase following a merger of two leading companies. A chemical for leather jackets and chafer grubs (Acelepryn) is now available for managed amenity turf but is very expensive. One bottle @ circa £900 but could be divided to do the squares of ten / twelve clubs by a contractor as a 600ml bottle does a hectare. The best advice is for a pitch advisor to inspect the problem first.

BHGS Hayle

AOB

Season Start Date

The principal reason for this scheduled early start to the 2024 season, as it was in 2023, is that a majority of Cornwall’s clubs have voted strongly against playing League cricket on Bank Holiday Mondays ( 2 in May and 1 in August ) which used to be the tradition for many years.

Extending the season to the second Saturday of September, and playing East-West Finals on the third Saturday, has also been opposed by clubs because of the difficulties of fielding XIs due to players having to choose between cricket and rugby or soccer - a problem too in April/May. Recent end of season finals on the second Saturday of September have also been affected by rain.

The League has been asked to consider following the example of the Devon Cricket League which has 10 team divisions, and 18 fixtures starting in May and finishing by the end of August, in contrast to Cornwall’s 12 team divisions and 22 fixtures from mid-April to early September. The most recent survey of players in Cornwall indicated that they wish to retain 22 fixtures.

Cornwall Cricket League Management Committee’s current policy is to proceed with the mid-April start but to remind clubs that, if they are having problems preparing their grounds, they can re-arrange fixtures provided they give due notice, as laid out in the Rules section of the League Handbook and opponents consent to any proposed change of date.

Latest Update - 19 March

Added flexibility on reschedules in April 2024

For the third time in seven years, the League will again this year allow added flexibility by reducing the number of days of notification required to the League from 14 to 7 days for matches in April in County Division 1 and Tier 2 (Divisions 2 & 3) for clubs who mutually agree to reschedule. Seven days already applies throughout the season in Tier 3.

The cut-off for notification of the opening day fixtures on Saturday 13 April is therefore 23:59 on Saturday 6 April.

After that matches not played will be classed as cancellations - six points each.

The League will not get involved in disputes between clubs who have the right not to agree to reschedules if they so wish within the rules.

Live list of 2024 Rescheduled Matches

ends