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Pitch update – good news and bad
Philip Bell12 Sep 2018 - 10:10
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Clubhouse pitch ok (just) - but Cypress needs rain
This Saturday our first home league game of the season will be played on the pitch outside the clubhouse. Opponents Haywards Heath ko 3.00pm.
The pitches at Cross In Hand have been severely affected by the unusually dry summer and four weeks ago both were extensively (and expensively!) reseeded. We have been concerned that the Clubhouse pitch would not be ready by this weekend as the new grass would be very vulnerable to intensive activity but some watering and overnight rain mean that it will be good for use on Saturday – albeit slightly earlier than would have been ideal.
The pitch at Waldron has survived the summer almost unscathed and is fine for use. The 2nd team will play there on Saturday against Brighton 2.
However the Cypress field is another matter. As illustrated the grass coverage is a long way from satisfactory and the new grass would be easily uprooted by rugby boots. This pic was taken this morning following the overnight rain otherwise the almost desert-like appearance would be more obvious. The drainage on this pitch is too good so the benefit of the rain will quickly fade away.
Therefore we will not be able to use Cypress for some time, probably several weeks – and this will be very dependent on the weather. After today the BBC 2 week forecast shows no rain at all until Saturday week (22 Sep) so I do not expect much progress in that period.
This will have an especial impact on the Mini and Junior sections as regards their use of Cypress. The relevant section chairmen and managers will be updated as appropriate.
The pitches at Cross In Hand have been severely affected by the unusually dry summer and four weeks ago both were extensively (and expensively!) reseeded. We have been concerned that the Clubhouse pitch would not be ready by this weekend as the new grass would be very vulnerable to intensive activity but some watering and overnight rain mean that it will be good for use on Saturday – albeit slightly earlier than would have been ideal.
The pitch at Waldron has survived the summer almost unscathed and is fine for use. The 2nd team will play there on Saturday against Brighton 2.
However the Cypress field is another matter. As illustrated the grass coverage is a long way from satisfactory and the new grass would be easily uprooted by rugby boots. This pic was taken this morning following the overnight rain otherwise the almost desert-like appearance would be more obvious. The drainage on this pitch is too good so the benefit of the rain will quickly fade away.
Therefore we will not be able to use Cypress for some time, probably several weeks – and this will be very dependent on the weather. After today the BBC 2 week forecast shows no rain at all until Saturday week (22 Sep) so I do not expect much progress in that period.
This will have an especial impact on the Mini and Junior sections as regards their use of Cypress. The relevant section chairmen and managers will be updated as appropriate.
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