Simon Lee, Ageas Bowl Head Goundsman
Simon Lee, Hampshire's head groundsman at the Ageas Bowl, is the guest speaker at the Dorset Cricket Society on Thursday afternoon, 1.45pm. The meeting at Hurn Bridge/Christchurch FC is open to non-members for a small fee. Tea/coffee and biscuits afterwards.
Simon is a multi-award-winning groundsman who started his career at Somerset County Cricket ground in 1999 and rose through the ranks to become head groundsman ten years later. Simon can boast (although not his style) the honour of having won back-to-back ECB Groundsman of the Year awards for one-day cricket and perhaps, through his square preparation skills, helping to produce spin-friendly wickets which helped Somerset finish second in the Championship in three of the past four seasons.
After being associated with Somerset for twenty years, Simon made the leap to become the head at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton back in January 2020 taking over the reins from Nigel Gray. Simon recalls, "I'm a Somerset boy by heart, so it was a massive decision to make. I could have happily stayed with Somerset as there was no particular reason to leave. But opportunities like this don't come around very often, especially with such a big site and the chance to improve somewhere which is an international ground."
Among the topics Simon will discuss will be how he and his work acholic deputy Tom Cowley dealt with the Covid epidemic in 2020 and its impact on stadium ground preparation and the introduction of hybrid pitches in local recreational cricket.
Simon is a multi-award-winning groundsman who started his career at Somerset County Cricket ground in 1999 and rose through the ranks to become head groundsman ten years later. Simon can boast (although not his style) the honour of having won back-to-back ECB Groundsman of the Year awards for one-day cricket and perhaps, through his square preparation skills, helping to produce spin-friendly wickets which helped Somerset finish second in the Championship in three of the past four seasons.
After being associated with Somerset for twenty years, Simon made the leap to become the head at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton back in January 2020 taking over the reins from Nigel Gray. Simon recalls, "I'm a Somerset boy by heart, so it was a massive decision to make. I could have happily stayed with Somerset as there was no particular reason to leave. But opportunities like this don't come around very often, especially with such a big site and the chance to improve somewhere which is an international ground."
Among the topics Simon will discuss will be how he and his work acholic deputy Tom Cowley dealt with the Covid epidemic in 2020 and its impact on stadium ground preparation and the introduction of hybrid pitches in local recreational cricket.
