IANS Exclusive: Ex England Cricketer said, ‘A hybrid pitch might handle 15 T20 games’
In an Exclusive Interview with IANS, Former England Test cricketer Paul Taylor said, Pitch technology has advanced significantly, with various surface types now available for cricket. SIS Pitches has created a guide to clarify the differences, particularly between hybrid and drop-in pitches. Drop-in pitches are fully natural surfaces built in movable trays for multi-sport use, while hybrid pitches incorporate artificial fibers into natural turf, enhancing strength and longevity. Hybrid pitches can support up to three times more play than traditional pitches, requiring less preparation and renovation. For instance, a hybrid pitch might handle 15 T20 games instead of 5, reducing the curator's workload. Despite the added fibers, hybrid pitches remain 95% natural, allowing curators to control key aspects like watering and rolling, while benefiting from decreased maintenance time.
#Cricket #England #TestCricket #PaulTaylor #IANSInterview
#Cricket #England #TestCricket #PaulTaylor #IANSInterview
Transcript
00:00Okay, so this is a representation of the profile of the soil so this is down level so you can see there
00:06There are thin fibers above the surface or an element of force
00:09But most of the activity and most of the stitching is beneath the ground so that is a stitching down to 90 mm depth
00:17It's a beige fiber
00:19And we do different colored yarns depending on the the look of the pitch so we can do a green yarn a mixture of green
00:25And beige but for the main stadiums in India we've been installing the beige yarn
00:29So it doesn't show up in the pitches below the ground the roots will grow around the fiber
00:35Which anchors the fibers into place they'll also grow deeper, so it makes the grass plant healthier
00:43There's a natural air space that exists around the fibers
00:46So what you'll find is water nutrients the air will get down to the roots of the grass a lot easier
00:52So again it strengthens a grass plant and makes it a lot healthier
00:56If you've got a healthier grass plant you get a better grass coverage across the whole pitch
01:03And the fibers above the surface always sit underneath the grass plant so when we install a pitch
01:10If the curator for instance installs or cuts his pitches down to 5 mm
01:16As his finished cutting height for the pitch we'll install the fibers and cut them off at 4 mm
01:21So it's always underneath the grass plant so the grass is the first thing the ball will hit it will not hit the fibers
01:29The idea is that the
01:33playing characteristics of the pitch do not change because it again it's
01:38Reinforcing the fact that it's still 95% natural turf and there's only 5% fiber within the surface