Zimpapers Logo

Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter 

WHENEVER a team does well, praise is showered on the players and the coaching staff. This is expected and welcome after all it’s the gladiators and the coaches who sweat blood for victory. 

However, in a sport like cricket a lot of work is put in behind the scenes, and putting in the required time and effort leads to major success. The hard work does not only come from the players because they only take to the field to play. 

There is a group of men and women, not part of the squad nor the coaching staff but are an integral part of any team who want to win. 

We are talking about the grounds staff, cricket’s unsung heroes. 

It has become popular knowledge that it is near impossible to win against India in their own backyard not because they are that good but due to the type of wickets that opponents find there. A lot have struggled to navigate the Indian tracks. 

Preparing a wicket to the strength of the home side does not happen in the Asian nation only, but all over the world, making the ground staff equally important as the players and coaches.

A cricket pitch is special and should be protected at all costs and if there are matches during the rainy season, the ground staff has to keep in contact with umpires because the last thing that is needed is to have the wicket rained on which might lead to change of conditions thus giving an advantage to either the batting or the bowling team. So they have to be spot on and make sure the covers are in good conditions 

Saturday Chronicle managed to catch up with Zimbabwe Cricket national curator, Fungai Shanganya who took us through the process of the under-appreciated work that he and his men put in all over the country. 

“To be honest, I always say there is no cricket without ground staff, if you remove the ground staff and remain with players then what? So I always feel it starts with the ground staff, the way they prepare their wickets determines what comes out of the players. 

“All the talent that you’ve got, it all comes from the ground. If these guys prepare a bad wicket and outfield, the players will not be able to persecute their talents so it all starts from the ground, that is how important the ground staff is, to prepare international standards so that we also produce international cricketers. 

“There is a lot that we do on that pitch, it’s not just to roll but we roll with a purpose and we always sit down with the coaches, what they want, what they will be expecting from the pitch, so you try and prepare from what the coach wants because that’s what they will be preparing for, so there is always 50/50 with the coach,” said Shanganya. 

The process of preparing a wicket starts in the nets because that is where practice takes place and the track in the nets will be similar to what the players will get in the centre wicket. 

“You shouldn’t find that the nets are grassy and bouncy then come to the games, the wicket is flat, it is never like that so what you get in the nets is what you will get in the centre wicket,” he said. 

The way the wicket of a T20 match is prepared is different to that of the ODIs and Tests. It takes between three weeks to a month to prepare an international pitch, in terms of the amount of water needed and rolling to be done among other activities. 

Preparing a wicket starts with a process called verti-cutting where the grass is cut to remove an unneeded layer that forms especially during this time when there is lots of rain and after that the pitch is watered before a light roller is used to even the surface. The weight of the rollers is gradually increased and there are three types, small, medium, and heavy one, and the latter comes in towards the last week of preparations. 

The work done by the ground staff does not only end on the centre wicket but also covers the outfield. 

“If you come to Queens I think that is one thing that you will always enjoy, watching the grass that is green, and a nice levelled outfield. There is a certain standard that is required by the ICC and that is what we will be trying to get, they don’t want that thick grass, it has to be as low as possible so that the ball moves,” said Shanganya. 

He said they are also looking at fixing the drainage system of the ground so that there are no wet outfield stoppages whenever there is rain. Shanganya does not work alone in making sure that the grounds in the country are up to standard, he has the assistance of provincial foreman curators. 

“Right now there’s a tournament in Harare and I’m here (Bulawayo) but I know what is happening, I know the wicket they are playing on and the performance of that wicket so there is that communication that is always there to make sure things are fine,” he said. 

Part of the ground staff’s job is to make sure that a batter’s vision is not interrupted whenever he is in the middle thus the use of side screens. If it’s a Test match, the screens are painted white because of the red ball being used and when it’s a limited overs match, the side screen is painted black because of the white ball being used. It helps the batters to clearly see the ball.  — @brandon_malvin