DROP-IN OR DROP OUT?

TurfPro editor, Laurence Gale, writes  . . .

I would like to follow on from my comments last week on the state of the Lord’s pitch, where I was supporting the role of the turf professional and pointing out all the variables that come into play when preparing a test match pitch.

After reading many comments on social media in the days that followed, there seems to be a number of commentators that would like to see Lord’s facilitate a drop in pitch system.

From a cricketing perspective, drop-in wickets are feasible at Lord's however, from a cultural, agronomic, and historical perspective, they are highly unlikely and many would argue undesirable.

The debate is becoming more relevant whenever a high-profile Lord's pitch comes under criticism, as happened with the recent England–New Zealand Test.

What is a drop-in wicket?

A drop-in wicket is prepared away from the square in a specialist nursery and then transported into the stadium. The system is used successfully at venues such as Melbourne Cricket Ground, Adelaide Oval and the Optus Stadium.

Some say the advantages of this include improved consistency, better control of preparations, multi-use stadium flexibility and reduced pressure on the main square.

However, over many years I have spoken to several experienced grounds staff who have their reservations about this type of system.

There has been some testing of a drop in system at Loughborough University’s home of the ECB National Cricket Performance Centre. Essentially a drop in tray was installed and maintained over a period of time, to see how it performs in the UK climate. 

Researchers and turf specialists have found that drop-in wickets can provide some advantages such as greater control over pitch production, ability to prepare wickets under protected conditions, consistency between pitches and reduced pressure on the main square. 

However, the UK climate creates difficulties that Australian venues do not experience to the same extent. Here in the UK we have lower summer temperatures, higher humidity, more frequent rainfall and reduced drying rates. 

One criticism occasionally levelled at drop-ins worldwide is that they can produce surfaces that are, technically sound, consistent and safe but sometimes lack the distinctive character of traditional wickets.

Many curators feel that native-soil wickets, reflect local conditions, develop naturally through a match and produce more venue-specific characteristics. 
Many leading curators would argue that a properly functioning native Lord's square should still be capable of producing outstanding Test wickets without moving to a drop-in system.

Lord's is not simply another cricket venue. It has over 200 years of cricket history and is famous for Its slope, its unique playing characteristics and importantly, its traditional pitch preparation methods.

Many people believe that Lord's should retain its individuality rather than become another venue producing standardised surfaces.

A drop-in wicket at any sports venue would create several practical issues but at Lord’s you face the challenge of engineering the drop-in wicket to integrate with the famous 8ft slope. Along with having to match surrounding levels perfectly and avoid any settlement issues.

Drop-in systems can often have different behavioural issues as there is a given depth of soil in a metal tray. Also both root development and moisture levels will be different to a natural soil profile. Many traditionalists would argue the beauty of Test cricket lies in variety. Test wickets at Lord’s, Headingley, Old Trafford and the Oval should not all play identically.

For me personally, it is likely to come down to feasibility of whether drop-in wickets will in fact provide the consistency and performance that is better than the existing pitches at Lord’s. 

The shear cost of facilitating this technology and designing a transport and storage facility for these drop-in trays is expensive and you are going to need room to store three or four of these trays to accommodate the fixtures at Lord’s.

As far as I am aware I have not seen a transport system built for this operation in the UK.

If Lord's ever adopted a drop-in system, a dedicated pitch nursery would be required with heavy transport routes out to the square, and the tray is likely to weigh in the region of between 80–120 tonnes. 

Feasibly, if the UK were to build a fully professional drop-in wicket facility, the cost would be substantially higher than most people imagine because you are not just building a pitch - you are creating a complete production, transport, storage, and installation system.

Based on the costs of these systems seen in Australia we are probably looking at anything between £5-15 million.

A substantial investment in what is, at present, a not fully truly tested drop-in system in the UK. For me, the money would be better spent on traditional cricket pitch construction, with a planned refurbishment programme set over a number of years to replace any tired, non-performing pitches.