CRICKET II. RECOMMENDATIONS ON FIELD CONSTRUCTION

The construction of a camp for Cricket has two distinct zones, the central zone, or "Pitch". where the wickets are laid next to each other and the rest of the outfield. The Outfield be built on a substrate similar to other sports surfaces such as sandy football pitches, if possible, and including an irrigation and drainage system. On the other hand, the Pitch are built with substrates with high clay content, i.e. with high compactability. In these, physical characteristics that are agronomically contrary to those sought for other surfaces, such as low porosity, high density and high compaction, will be sought.

The “wicket or pitch“  The most important area of the cricket pitch, where the batting and the most striking part of the game takes place, is the central rectangle, which is 3.05 metres wide and has a north/south orientation. Generally, several pitches The rest of the playing field surrounding the ground. The rest of the playing field surrounding the pitchthe outfield must be at least 37 metres away from the centre of the pitch for "juniors"(with a length between 16 and 19 metres) and at about 45.72 metres for ".seniors"(about 20 metres long).

The most differentiating characteristics of the wickets are given by the texture of the substrate used, the recommended ones being those with a mixture of high clay content (between 25 and 35%). This data is what will determine the pot and other characteristics sought. Thus we can have pitches constructed of clays with strong volumetric expansion capabilities (which have good bouncing qualities) typical of South Africa and Australia, while on the other hand, those with high sand content (which will compact much less) will result in less bouncing. For matches of several days' duration, attempts will be made to construct the pitches with a higher clay content, as it increases their ability to withstand play for a longer period of time without deteriorating.

For the construction of the "wickets"It is necessary to compact the profiles every 50 mm with the help of heavy rollers. The different layers of the profile must be worked (once one of them is consolidated, move on to the next profile) as the pressure exerted by the rollers decreases as the heights of the different substrates increase.

The following are different textural examples of the composition of the wickets:

In general:

• The content of organic matter: < 5%
• The ratio Mg:Ca exchange: < 1
• The pH between: 6 y 7
• The hydraulic conductivity: < 2 mm/hour
• The total of dissolved salts: < 200 ppm
• The content of smectite clay: > 50%.

Substrates with calcium carbonate content or high salinity should be avoided as they may lead to decomposition during play.

Source: The Cricket Pitch and its outfield, Neil Tainton and John Klug