Total revamp at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl Nursery Ground

With cricket suspended until at least July 1, Hampshire have taken the opportunity to rip up the entire outfield, which was laid over 20 years ago and was showing significant signs of wear and tear, with specific problems with the drainage.

The ground is used for all the county’s 2nd XI games and the Academy side also uses it for their home ECB Southern Premier League matches.

An 18mm layer of thatch has been stopping the Nursery Ground outfield draining properly after heavy rain.

In association with Fair Oak-based Southern Ground Care, Lee and assistant groundsman Tom Cowley removed the thatch.

The whole outfield was then scarified and spiked to create a bed for fresh grass seed to fall and be brushed into.

‘To finish off, we spread between 75 and 90 tonnes of sand onto the outfield then used a tractor-mounted brush to drag the sand around,’ explained Cowley, who eats, drinks and sleeps his work on the Ageas Bowl groundstaff.

‘We will spread the rest of the sand over the next few weeks and will walk the outfield, dressing up any low spots we come across.’

Cowley hopes that they hope to see signs of early grass growth over the upcoming bank holiday weekend – only ten days after it was put down!

He explained: ‘We have outfield sprinklers to help the process, and in six to eight weeks hope to be in a good position with it so it shouldn’t take too long to be turned round ready for play.

‘If all goes to plan, the Nursery Ground could be playable by August.’