Here’s a question for you: What could be the different ways of drying a cricket pitch?
Use of super-soppers is the obvious answer, innit? But, desperate times call for desperate measures. And over the years we have seen quite a lot of unconventional methods, albeit out of desperation, employed by ground staffs to dry certain wet patches on the field. Sponges, air blowers, hair dryers, halogen lamps, burning coal and a helicopter! And even the household steam iron (or press as is commonly referred in India). Not that these unconventional methods have been fruitful but you have to give full marks for the commitment.
Also Read: Ill-equipped Ground Staff, Poor Drainage System Likely to Affect Proceedings
And at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Cricket Stadium in Greater Noida, the commitment levels went up a notch .
Why try and dry the wet patches? Why not just not just replace it! WITH FRESH STRIPS OF GRASS?
The situation is so dire here that the management are willing to do anything to save face and get the Afghanistan vs New Zealand one-off Test underway.
Today was supposed to be Day 2 of his historic first-ever Test between the two nations, but overnight rains, poor drainage system and ill-equipped ground staff has meant the game is yet to officially start.
The opening day was marred by gross mismanagement of the media facilities, and to certain extent, inadequate measures of the groundstaff to dry the wet patches all around the ground. Remember, there was no spell of rain till late evening as the staff grappled with wet outfield from overnight rains.
Monday evening and the night also did not do the venue any favour as another substantial downpour meant both the teams were greeted with more rain water.
And in a desperate bid to get the game started the groundstaff showed great ingenuity. There were 13 groundsmen present who decided to relay the damp grass patches with fresh one dug up from behind one of the sightscreens and even from the practice pitches. As we said, desperate times call for desperate measures.
But, in all seriousness, the two days so far have exposed lack of preparedness of the venue for hosting an international fixture. News18 CricketNext was informed that the venue management is well equipped to tackle such situations and that’s why they got the nod back in 2016 to conduct international matches.
Sources within the Greater Noida Sports Complex claim that they have a groundstaff of 25 people and 15 were additionally outsourced. There are five super-soppers – two automatic, three manual and sufficient covers – three 30 yard covers and to save the ground and five bigger ones, 60-80 yards. But what was learned through officials turned out to be far from reality.
Five super-soppers were claimed to be present at the venue, but there were just on the field on both days. Despite using them to their full capacities, the soil beneath still held water.
So, what’s next?
The two big table fans, called ‘toofan’ in local dialect, were out and so were the foam pads. As of 11:00 am local time on Day 2, these circus acts continued with the first official inspection taking place at 12 noon before another scheduled for 3 pm.
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