Greetings one and all...it is my pleasure to create a blog post that documents a communication thread between Sridhar Ranganathan (BBY) and Kalyan Routhu, a cricket enthusiast from Pennsylvania, USA.
Kalyan reached us after Googling on the topic, reading Greg Widdicombe's below mentioned article and finding out that Greg was from Santa Clara Cricket Club. I hope you enjoy reading this one as much as I did documenting it, as it gives a huge perspective on what it takes to build a pitch. It most certainly did increase my respect, appreciation and regard for the work that has been performed by some of our illustrious alumni at Santa Clara Cricket Club. Kudos to Greg, Sridhar and the rest of the gang...We are enjoying the fruits of your labor to this very day. Thank you for the bottom of our hearts!!!!!
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The article written by Greg Widdicombe on the subject can be found at - http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ABOUT_CRICKET/PITCHES/INSTALLING_PITCHES.html
To augment the article, Sridhar added the following points:
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1. Dig anywhere between 2-6 inches for the entire rectangle of 100 feet by 12 feet (you can also do it 80 feet x 8 feet, if you do not really want any Astroturf at the run up area. We dug 6 inches and we have 2 inches of gravel, then baseball mix with 10% extra loam for the next 6inches. Make sure that you do this with as minimal water as necessary. It needs to be solid, not gooey. Roll with a 5 ton roller to the extent possible. Let it dry in the sun for 2 days and sprinkle water as necessary.
2. Get a Astroturf. Home Depot or something more expensive. More expensive will last longer .. for the more expensive carpet go to
http://www.artificial-lawn.co.uk/synthetic_grass.php - you can just search for "Astroturf Cricket" on Google and find most of the specs..
Of all the things, the pile should be at least 7mm high (the range is 6-9mm)...the higher the pile height, the more expensive and more durable the carpet is...but you do not want it to be more than 9mm. The higher the pile high, the slower the pitch will be...7mm is just about optimum. The one at SCCC that we got, when we got it was 9mm. So, it was slow for the first 2-3 years and gradually got faster.
Also, it is better to get close loop turf - these days they use different terminology and new technology has provided brands like pure grass etc.
3. Where to get -- the largest manufacturer of Astroturf in the world is the US.. so you are in the right place.. check out
www.astroturf.com. This is where we bought ours. They were not quite willing to sell though.. back then, I called and asked for a favor and at that time, they had a couple of mats that they were about to ship to
Australia and they shipped us one. It cost a bomb $5000 (compared to
Home Depot - $900) and I could not even negotiate. At that time, I did not even see it, I just took the guys word for it. Their number is
800.723.8873
Kalyan responded with a follow up:
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Thank you so much. This is great help. One quick question. what is 10% extra loam? Basically, dig 6 inches, fill upto 2 inches with gravel, roll it, then fill with baseball clay + 10% extra loam mix. Roll it again using a 5 ton heavy roller.
Sridhar's response to Kalyan's query:
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Baseball mix allows you to get a hard surface, Loam usually allows you better drainage. You mix loam and baseball mix and mix them well and fill the crater that you have dug...approximately, the composition of baseball mix and loam is 9-1. You can even go to 8-2 if you need better draining pitch, but the pitch may show wear and tear sooner as the baseball mix is quite erosive - notice baseball diamonds. You really have to mix them well and really, really roll it well.
BTW, if you dig 6", you will need a lot of material (at least 7-8 inches worth of volume of material). Perhaps, 4" is good enough with one inch of gravel and the rest of the 4" inches of baseball mix and loam to get you a 5" base. You can also put in one inch of gravel and one inch of base rock before you put in the baseball mix and loam.
You will need to go one inch higher than the ground level, to allow the pitch to settle and sink in... and it will sink over a couple years...if you can afford it, I would even suggest that you build the pitch about 2 inches about the ground level with a smooth ramp for the runup area. Do pay attention to the side edges of the pitch and create a smooth arc across the width of the pitch to accommodate the one or 2 inches height over the ground level. Do not shape the sides into a beveled ramp, as that would be a big hindrance when a throw comes in or somebody plays a shot that hits the edge.. so a smooth arc should do the trick.
What is LOAM?
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Loam is
soil composed of
sand,
silt, and
clay in relatively even concentration (about 40-40-20% concentration respectively), considered ideal for gardening and agricultural uses. Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and
humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to
till than clayey soils.
Loams are gritty, plastic when moist, and retain water easily. In addition to the term loam, different names are given to soils with slightly different proportions of sand, silt, and clay: sandy loam, silty loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and loam.
A "loamy" soil feels mellow and is easy to work over a wide range of moisture conditions. A soil dominated by one or two of the three particle size groups can behave like loam if it has a strong granular structure (promoted by a high content of organic matter). However, a soil that meets the textural definition of loam can lose its characteristic desirable qualities when compacted, depleted of organic matter, or has dispersive clay in its fine-earth fraction.
Loam soil is ideal for growing crops because it retains nutrients well and retains water while still allowing the water to flow freely. This soil is found in a majority of successful farms in regions around the world known for their fertile land
Kalyan responded to this with a follow up:
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I was thinking that I would need more material because the level would compress when we roll it. We can dig 4 inches, fill one inch with gravel, one inch with crushed stone and three inches with baseball and loam mix with a ratio of 9:1. I have located a supplier here in New Jersey who might be able to mix the two and deliver it to us instead of us going through the hassle of mixing it.
This is what I am thinking the approach should be. Please advise.
- Dig out 70X10 strip to 4 inches
- Roll it in
- Lay a plastic layer to cover the strip
- Lay the 1 inch gravel and roll it in
- Lay the 1 inch crushed stone and roll it in
- Lay the clay/loam mix 3 inches and roll it in.
Can we lay everything on the same day or do we need to wait for a day for the gravel/crushed stone layers to settle before adding the clay/loam mix?
I also called Home Depot and found Astroturf at 59cents/sq ft. Coming to $450 to cover 70X10. If we wanted to lay Astroturf on top, how do we clamp it to the ground and do we need a padding underneath? I guess I can get that info from Home Depot people
Sridhar's response to Kalyan's query:
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Sounds like a plan.. except the plastic sheet.. the purpose of the gravel and rock to drain water will be lost. Do not lay the plastic sheet.
Get a guy who owns a bob cat and get him to do it for you. Don't even try doing it yourself. If you can find a guy, then this should you about 6 hours or so. He can also do the rolling for you. roll for at least an hour if not more. You will know when it is ready.
Additional notes:
1. Plan on getting rid of the material that you are going to dig up or spread it around really well on the outside of the boundary of the ground.
2. Less water while mixing is better than more water, otherwise you will have to wait for the stuff to dry before you roll.. else stuff will stick on the roller and the pitch will become extremely uneven.
3. You can lay the mat after a day, but make sure that the top is well bound and dry.
4. Use 8-10" nails that are about 1/3" in diameter with proper washers to secure the mat. Hit the nail at least 1.5" inside the mat, otherwise, the nails may rip through the carpet. Use larger nails at the edges and smaller nails along the side.
5. Use a thick plastic, even rubber sheet near the crease area to avoid the bat "tapping" of batsmen ripping the carpet.
6. Use masking tape with a acrylic spray white paint to mark the creases. the crease width should not be more than 1" wide.
7. Use a aluminum cone (look around in the plumbing section of Home Depot and you will find one) that fits the cone of the stump. put that in the ground and use that to lay stumps. Get some soft putty clay or play-doh to fill these cones, so it is easy for the stumps to hold.
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