What has the Grounds Committee ever done for us?
It's too easy a generalisation to imagine those who serve on committees in sports organsiations as faceless bureaucrats who lock themselves in darkened rooms and come up with ludicrous ideas. More often than not, they are cricketers putting the knowledge they have received from the game back into the sport. And it is at this time of the year, that 'empty' period between the end of the cricket season and Christmas when they are at their busiest.
That ten week spell contains many stategic reviews of the year just gone, along with implementation of plans for the new year - and then Christmas comes and the whole cycle starts again.
Cricket Leinster is well served by dozens of such unpaid volunteers who spend the year trying to improve cricket in the province, (and this doesn't include the hundreds who do it at a level), and a sizeable chunk of these are devoted to the grounds and facilities that the hundreds (and thousands) of matches are played on each year. Grounds are one of the areas that all committees within Cricket Leinster have something to do with. The Open Competitions, Womens and Youth Committees all spend time trying to procure grounds for the playing of representative matches, as well as making sure that the correct standard of match is played on the corresponding standard of ground. The Development Committee primarilly looks at the expansion of the sport, through new players, new clubs and new grounds. The Finance Committee has at its disposal, funds which clubs can apply for loans to improve their facilities. And the Grounds Committee tries to bring all those aspects together, liaising between club and the other committees, to try and bring improvement to the club and ground.
So what does all that mean? What has the Grounds Committee been doing all year? Lots of miles have been clocked up for a start, with all grounds having been visited by members of the committee at least once, and sometimes many more. Some of those visits were during the winter, a good time to take stock and consider the future. Some visits were during the summer - after all, grounds are best monitored when cricket is being played. A lot of the work of the committee is related to when problems arise - either before the season or during it. Mercifully, the number of times this has been needed this year has been small, and on no occasion on 2014 did the Grounds Committee have to advise that cricket should not be played on a ground.
The support of the Leinster Cricket Groundsman's Association has been vital, and their work is making huge differences across the province. The province are lucky in that there are a large number of qualified groundsmen across the province at the moment, and they freely share their advice amongst each other, improving standards continually. For those that may not be as experienced, the LCGA is always there to help. The Trailer Scheme, administered by the LCGA and funded by Cricket Leinster provides a trailer full of equipment so that clubs do not need to purchase expensive machinery, and can renovate their square to a high standard for a much lower price.
In conjunction with YMCA and the LCGA, grounds consultant Len Smith travels over several times a year, touring the grounds and offering high quality analysis and advice on grounds. Len was in Leinster at the end of the season, as clubs started their vital end of season renovation work. At the same time, the Grounds Committee has sent out its end of season Grounds Report to all clubs. The reports detail the grades that are given to each pitch by the standing umpires, and also offer vital information on any facilities that may be lacking, or problems that arise.
The Grounds Reports are also vital in making sure clubs know exactly what needs to be done in terms of clubs receiving their Club Accreditation Mark, Cricket Leinster's scheme to bring all clubs and grounds up to standard, with the standard of cricket played in the club being directly related to the standard of the facilities in the ground that the club plays its matches on. At the end of 2015, clubs will be moved to a lower league if their grounds are not up to standard (more details at http://www.cricketleinster.ie/media/Guidance/393_cricket-leinsters-club-grade-process-explained/393_cricket-leinsters-club-grade-process-explained-64193765.pdf)
The standard of grounds across the province is much higher than people may like to think. We have two grounds that frequently hold ODIs, with another three or four that are capable of holding interprovincial matches (which will hopefully become List A or first class matches). There are only a handful of grounds that cause concern, and across the board we compare favourably with large England counties, Australian States or West Indian islands. But as a groundsman will tell you, there is always lots more work to be done!