Ground Conditions Cause Concern

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31633, 20 March 1968, Page 14

Ground Conditions Cause Concern

Concern was expressed at the poor standard of some of the pitches and outfields used to play matches conducted by the Canterbury Cricket Association, at its management committee meeting last evening.

An amended motion was passed that all clubs which have been offending in some way be asked to state what provisions they are going to make to rectify the substandard state of their grounds. This came after an earlier motion had asked that the five leading offenders be told that their grounds were not up to the required standard. In his report, Mr J. H. M. Dawson said that Linwood, Ensors Road, Elmwood, Sydenham, Burnside and Burwood Parks and Shirley Boys’ High School had all offended in some way. He said that the ground conditions were good at Straven Road but that there was no provision for afternoon tea.' Harming Promotion Chance, “How do these lower grade offending clubs expect to be promoted to higher grades or even senior status if their grounds are not up to an acceptable standard?” asked Mr R. T. Dowker.

“Should they apply for promotion, their requests would certainly be turned down. How

can a club with short boundaries on its ground expect to be promoted?”

“Most of these grounds have offended in past years,” said Mr F. F. Dawson, a former member of the grounds committee. “Even after representation from this committee they have shown no real Improvement. It should not be allowed to continue.”

Mr J. H. M. Dawson seriously doubted whether much could be done to improve many of the grounds. “Poor wickets won’t promote cricket,” said the chairman of the management committee (Mr A. G. Williams). "We at Sydenham and the Old Collegians club realise our shortcomings and are now making every endeavour to rectify them/’ Standard Is Slipping "At Sydenham Park, we have a considerable amount of capital equipment, including a motorised roller, yet our wickets are deteriorating. “It would be safe to say that Sydenham and Elmwood Parks, would have been two of the best grounds for many years in the past, but the standard is slipping.” Mr Williams said it was up to the grounds committee to see that the accepted standard was maintained. “The Hagley Oval wickets have received much favourable comment from most senior players this season,” said Mr J. C. Saunders. Sports Centre Mr Saunders reported that during the last fortnight an initial approach by letter had been made to about 50 cricket supporters in Canterbury with regard to the debenture scheme to assist the association with its sports centre.

"My committee is pleased to report that already 14 supporters have subscribed to the extent of $4550 for debentures, in addition to a donation of $50,” he said. “This is a very heartening response to our appeal.”