No snow but the May's Bounty outfield resembled a beach after being covered with 100 tons of sand !
Basingstoke & North Hants have removed the top surface of the entire cricket outfield at May’s Bounty following problems there this past summer.
The ground has been scarified, disc seeded with 100 tons of sand laid on the surface, leaving head groundsman Richard Vinn anxious for plenty more rain to bind the new growth together.
“Until recently, we hadn’t experienced any meaningful rain since last February,” he explained. “Some parts died off over the winter.
“The general consensus was a compaction of the soil and a layer of thatch beneath the surface that caused that issue. The scorching hot weather on top of that just made things worse.”
Mr Vinn and his grounds team toiled manfully to provide seemingly endless cricket all summer long.
“Anywhere between 70-80 matches were played on the main square, plus a handful of kids games on the outfield, ie Under-9s and school competitions.
“We hosted league games every Saturday, plus twice weekly Guy Jewell T20 cup ties, and later in August Hampshire pathway matches, so there was no let up.
“Due to the fine weather there would have been a pitch prepared virtually every day. In a normal year you'd get the odd day off for rain but not this year.
The adjoining Castle Field cricket square was Koroed on top of normal renovations, ie (2-3 inches shaved off).
“The outfield took two days to scarify, seed and top dress (100 tons). Both outfields and the rugby field will be spiked once the ground softens up a bit,” Vinn added.
“It's greened up a lot over the last couple of weeks. Once it gets cut it should start looking like it should again. Fingers crossed...
Basingstoke will play ‘white ball’ Southern Premier League cricket in 2026, following this season’s relegation from the ECB Premier League.
The ground has been scarified, disc seeded with 100 tons of sand laid on the surface, leaving head groundsman Richard Vinn anxious for plenty more rain to bind the new growth together.
“Until recently, we hadn’t experienced any meaningful rain since last February,” he explained. “Some parts died off over the winter.
“The general consensus was a compaction of the soil and a layer of thatch beneath the surface that caused that issue. The scorching hot weather on top of that just made things worse.”
Mr Vinn and his grounds team toiled manfully to provide seemingly endless cricket all summer long.
“Anywhere between 70-80 matches were played on the main square, plus a handful of kids games on the outfield, ie Under-9s and school competitions.
“We hosted league games every Saturday, plus twice weekly Guy Jewell T20 cup ties, and later in August Hampshire pathway matches, so there was no let up.
“Due to the fine weather there would have been a pitch prepared virtually every day. In a normal year you'd get the odd day off for rain but not this year.
The adjoining Castle Field cricket square was Koroed on top of normal renovations, ie (2-3 inches shaved off).
“The outfield took two days to scarify, seed and top dress (100 tons). Both outfields and the rugby field will be spiked once the ground softens up a bit,” Vinn added.
“It's greened up a lot over the last couple of weeks. Once it gets cut it should start looking like it should again. Fingers crossed...
Basingstoke will play ‘white ball’ Southern Premier League cricket in 2026, following this season’s relegation from the ECB Premier League.
Sun and plenty of rain has transformed May's Bounty into its old self ..
