Cricket 1897

“ Together joined in Cricket’s manly toil.”— Byron. No. 447 . VOX.. X V I. THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1897. P R I C E 2 d . CHATS ON THE CRICKET FIELD. P. PEAKCE. For the last twenty-three years Pearce, as every cricketer knows, has been the superintendent of the ground at Lord’s, and when one remembers the evil repu­ tation which the ground had in former days, it is surprising that it has been brought to its present state of excellence. It is true that there are occasional com­ plaints even now of imperfect wickets, but complaints are heard about every ground at times, and the difficulties which have to be contended with at Lord’s are far greater than elsewhere. Pearce has written several articles on cricket and cricket grounds, and possessors of “ Box on Cricket ” will be interested to know that “ Scraps by a Groundman ” are by him. He has played cricket him­ self, as well as made it com­ fortable for other people, and as a medium-pace, right-hand bowler he did a good deal of execution in local matches. He has four sons, all of whom show promise of being good cricketers; his eldest son is in the 16th Lancers, and has played for the Colts of Sussex, of which county his father is a native. The first cricket ground of which he had charge was the present county ground at Brighton, but for years he had been gaining, as a- gar­ dener, a lot of experience in the making of lawns and keeping them up. “ I was originally at Leonards Lee,” he said, “ with Sydney Ford, a well-known man in the horticultural world. The new county ground at Brighton was at first looked after by Edward Sparey, a large nurseryman who had a contract with the com­ mittee. When he gave it up it was placed in my hands. My woik on the new ground began in 1872, and on Nov. 9th, 1874 T came to Lord’s. I thought that the Brighton ground was one of the easiest in the world to look after. When I first came to Lord’s I used to top dress the ground with road sweepings, and generally treat it as I had done at Brighton. But I soon found that this would not do at all in London. Now I have soil from Kilburn; it is said to contain a lot of iron. The best manure, in my opinion, is Smythe’s fertilizer, and P. PEARCE. (From a Photo by Briggs & Son’ St. John's Wood , London). of course I use Carter’s grass seeds, which are selected especially for the ground ; in London we want no clover—the cleaner the grass the better. I should recom­ mend different varieties of grass seed for almost every cricket ground.” “ What do you consider the most im­ portant point to be studied in looking after cricket grounds ?” “ The first thing that must be done is to study the soil. Here, for instance, you cannot get fine grasses to grow ; they invariably perish in the winter. Now at Brighton, Lincoln, Scarborough, Not­ tingham, Stoke-on-Trent and many other grounds it is quite different. Anything will grow on them, and they don’t have the wear and tear of London grounds. Last year Lord’s was as brown as a berry except in the centre, and when you think of the prom­ enading upon it this is not to be wondered at. This year from July 5th when Oxford plays Cambridge until July 17th when the Surrey v. Middlesex match is over, there will be thousands of people walking over the ground; in a dry season they fairly wear the grass off. Personally I prefer a season to be something between wet and dry, for then the ground is at its best. In a very wet season Lord’s takes a very long time to dry, and yet, oddly enough, one can some­ times play here when cricket is impossible on other London grounds. I may say that I have a stronger working staff than anybody who superin­ tends cricket grounds, and it is very seldom indeed that extra labour is refused if wanted—practically never.” ‘ ‘ What are the chief diffi­ culties which arise in attend­ ing to an important cricket ground ? ” “ There is no end to the difficulties, which vary with different grounds. Here, for instance, we are greatly bothered by worm - casts, while on some grounds they are hardly worth considera­ tion. If we get a dull day and heavy dews in the morning, we don’t get the wicket really dry for a long time; this ground will not dry unless we get sun and wind together. I think that the open space which has been made by the new railway will help us, unless a lot of big houses are built round the ground. One of the great