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A recent survey undertaken by the above team has shown that the quality of Provincial pitches varies considerably. Their pace, after preparation for four day matches, varied from medium to very slow, their bounce from medium to low and their consistency from reasonably consistent to very inconsistent. The same pattern is likely to be found among club and school pitches.

To overcome this problem the UCB has decided to put a help-line in place to assist groundsmen with their problems. Two teams (one at Potchefstroom University for the inland pitches and one at Natal University, Pietermaritzburg, for the coastal pitches, have been nominated to do this). It is hoped that these two teams will be able to assist in the following ways:
i)  give a series of seminars to groundsmen;
ii) visit each of the Provincial groundsmen for discussions on any problems they may have;
iii) search for a source of good quality bulli for each of the Provinces; and
iv) provide the Provincial groundsmen with the necessary equipment to measure the bounce and pace of their pitches and to correctly sample their pitches for any laboratory tests which they would like undertaken. Clubs might be able to negotiate with the Provincial groundsmen for the use of this testing equipment.

Any groundsmen would be free to contact either of the teams for advice, but any costs associated with any such action (beyond those listed above) would need to be borne by the Province or the clubs involved. Addresses are given at the back of this document.

It needs to be said at the start that, in pitch preparation, there may be any number of ways of reaching a particular goal. All groundsmen are likely to have developed their own particular procedures with which they may be entirely satisfied. Indeed, if the testing procedures which will be referred to later in this document show that they are consistently producing pitches which meet their particular goals, then there is presumably no need for them to change the procedures they are using. What we intend to do in this seminar, however, is to stimulate discussion among the groundsmen and to encourage groundsmen to think about what they are doing by providing them with the basic principles governing pitch behaviour. An understanding of the principles behind a good pitch will, we are sure, add a great deal of job satisfaction to the task of preparing a good cricket wicket. We hope you all find the seminar helpful and, above all, stimulating and we hope that you will all involve yourselves fully in our discussions.

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