Sports
First-of-its-kind hybrid cricket pitch marks its arrival in India via Dharamshala
New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Since the start of this millennium, innovation has been gaining currency in cricket – be it be via zing bails, spider cam, cricket bat sensor or hawk eye technology. In terms of pitches, a vital factor in teams deciding how they go about the game, there has been the addition of drop-in wickets.
But the addition of hybrid pitches into the cricketing ecosystem in England in 2017 grabbed the attention of many onlookers. SISGrass, a UK-based synthetic turf manufacturing company, which specialises in hybrid pitches not just in cricket, but also in football, rugby and hockey, have now brought this first-of-its-kind innovation to India.
In partnership with the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), SISGrass’ Universal Machine has installed two hybrid pitches each on the main square and practice area of the picturesque venue. In an in-depth conversation with IANS, Paul Taylor, the former England men’s cricketer, currently serving as International Sales Director, Cricket at SISGrass, spoke on what separates the hybrid pitch from a regular cricket surface.
“There are actually three different types of pitches. There is a pitch that lays a concrete base. There’s then a profile of soil with an artificial carpet that’s installed, and there’s no natural grass in it. They call it a hybrid cricket surface because you can play cricket on it. There is another one which is what we call a carpeted hybrid, where you take the top sort of 60 millimetres of soil out.”
“You lay a carpet that’s got a 60-millimetre-long pile. You put the soil and seed back in, grow seed in that top surface, and then play on it in terms of cricket. That’s also a hybrid cricket surface. The one that we do is using the existing pitch. So we don’t dig out anything. We just inject artificial fibers into the natural surface.”
“It’s stitched at 20 millimetre by 20 millimetre matrix across the whole width and length of the pitch. We also extend beyond the stump line, so that where the bowlers land with their back foot before they bowl is also a hybrid surface because it’s a high wear area.”
Taylor was glowing in explaining the benefits of hybrid cricket pitches, a term which he admits can be quite confusing at times. “One of the benefits of this system is it protects high wear areas quite nicely. We stitch to a depth of 90 millimetres with a six-ply polyethylene fibre.”
“That can be different colours depending on the surface of the colour of the pitches normally. We can have green, beige and a mixture of both. So there’s a lot of flexibility in the type of colour that we can inject into the surface. The key thing is it’s still 95% natural turf; that is the key criteria to this. So the performance of the pitch should and will not change.”
“It will still seam and spin, and what it gives you is longevity. So you can play on a pitch for up to three times longer. The other thing it helps, is strengthen the grass around the fibers, but it’s never exposed above the height of the grass.”
“We always cut the fibers off at least one millimetre below the minimum cutting height for a pitch where we install. In the UK, they cut the pitches at six or seven mm, so we installed at five. Over here at Dharamshala, the pitches are cut at five, so we’ve installed at four. So that’s the difference.”
With 95% of the hybrid pitch being natural, the five percent fibre will keep the wear and tear in check; and plays a key role of recovery of grass after a match is over. “The fibre is like when you put some reinforcement into concrete. So you put rebar into concrete, which gives it strength. This is effectively a similar principle. So what we’re doing is giving strength to profile of the soil. The fibre always stays exposed at the top and it protects the grass plant.”
“So basically after the match is finished, when you water it, the grass recovery is a lot quicker because around the fibre, there is a natural airspace. So the water that when you put it on, it goes straight down the fibre into the roots of the plant as do any nutrients that you want to put onto the cricket square.”
“So they get into the root zone a lot quicker than what ordinarily it would if it just sat on the surface and gradually seeped its way through. So that’s another benefit, which is why the grass recovery on a hybrid pitch is a lot quicker than a natural pitch.”
“It means you can reuse them time and time again as you go forward. But you can prepare one pitch and as long as you rightly maintain it, you can play on it up to three times longer than what you would ordinarily.”
India is a country which has different weather patterns in various places, especially with cricket being played throughout the year. How the hybrid pitches would behave in different places, depending on the weather conditions, is a thing to be taken note of.
“It’s interesting because we spend two-three days when we arrive assessing the conditions. That’s on every job – we’ve had more experience in the UK and are doing more and more installations overseas. But every job is always going to be slightly different, whether it’s at home or overseas. So we all spend two or three days to assess the conditions.”
“There’s massively diverse conditions in north of the country, as compared to south of the country. So we spend that time assessing the soil content, more so the clay content, because we need moisture in the surface to be able to inject the fibers into it. We can’t inject into a hard surface; it has to be a soft surface.”
“The challenge we found here, there was very high clay content. So we needed more moisture in the surface than what we would ordinarily say in a surface back home. Normally in the UK, we need about 40% moisture content. Over here, after two or three days of research, we needed between 60 to 80% moisture content to be able to stitch effectively.”
“So there’s always a little bit of fact-finding taking place. Every venue we go to, whether it’s India or anywhere else in the world, we do the same sort of research before we start stitching,” elaborated Taylor.
He informed the grounds team at the HPCA Stadium will be educated by its partner company Greater Ten about right ways of maintaining hybrid pitches. “It is needed to just make sure that the maintenance is kept up. They still need to be maintained in the same way as it is done for a grass pitch.”
“The plan is to educate the ground staff and make sure that they do it properly. It’s not massively different from what you’d ordinarily do in any case. But the key is to make sure the fibres are continued to be exposed above the surface and not buried, which can happen when renovations take place and aren’t overseen and washed properly.”
Other note-worthy aspect about the hybrid pitch installation at Dharamshala is the venue fitting in SISAir, a drainage and aeration system specifically used to improve outfield conditions and can dry the ground in 15 minutes. “It’s a root protection system really and what it enables to do is, you can either extract water out of the surface where the system is installed, or you can blow air through it, which gives the roots a lot of aeration.”
“So it’s again about enhancing the strength of the grass that’s installed in the outfield here. In the outfield, the grass assists in its growth and recovery. What the system does is, it controls the temperature of the soil. In hot summer months, blowing air through the profile of the soil will help keep the roots open and cool. So again, it can protect the grass plant.”
“Similarly, if you have heavy rain, you can take that water out of the surface very, very quickly. There was a football match a few years ago in the Champions League. Manchester United were playing Galatasaray away from home and there was literally seven-eight days of torrential monsoon rain at the ground, resulting in surface water.”
“We’ve got a case study video on our website about it. The guy is bouncing the ball and he literally bounces, there’s a massive splash and he bounces and it stops. So there’s no bounce at all because there was so much water in the surface.”
“The system was turned on to get rid of the water and within 24 hours, the game was played. So that was a massively high profile match that was saved because of the SISAir system. Similarly, the rainfall in Dharamshala is quite heavy at times and it will have exactly the same effect here when needed.”
As of now, ICC has approved using hybrid surfaces in white-ball cricket, but is yet to give a green signal for it in red-ball cricket. But hybrid pitches has been given the usage approval by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for the ongoing 2024 county championship season on a trial basis.
Taylor, who worked at The Oval for 15 years as director of cricket development, now aims to expand the reach of hybrid pitches to other cricket-loving cities in India. “We’re installing a number of projects that are ECB-funded in communities, which is something that we’d like to do over here with the support of the BCCI if we can as we move forward.”
“We are trying to get these sorts of surfaces into grassroots cricket so that the kids are playing on quality services at a young age and will help bring more people into the game. We should ultimately bring more players at an international level of greater quality. So more heroes and role models, potentially.”
“We were due to start installing in Ahmedabad, but because of timing and matches, it didn’t quite work out. Dharamshala was available after the England-India Test match in March. We got three projects lined up in India – Dharamshala, Ahmedabad, and a potential couple in Mumbai. But because of match scheduling and windows of opportunity to install, Dharamshala was the one selected, and we’re very pleased we did.”
“India is obviously the biggest cricket team market in the world, and one that we want to be part of to help promote the game and increase the number of people playing it. I’ve no doubt that the program will grow across the country, and we’re looking forward to the expansion of the program.”
An HPCA official told IANS they got the hybrid pitch installation idea during the laying of the outfield six months ago. “The main thought was to get in latest technology which are evolving in cricketing world to Dharamshala. It will also give exposure to youngsters here – both batters and bowlers – for adapting to playing as per the hybrid pitch technology, which is the future of the game in HPCA’s opinion.”
The official also said Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings teams had practised on the hybrid pitches ahead of their clash on Sunday afternoon. “They were quite happy in practising on them. The wear and tear was less on hybrid pitch; their usage and behaviour has been quite smooth and consistent.”
–IANS
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Bengaluru, Aug 22 (IANS) Shivamogga Lions’ woes continued as they suffered a 28-run defeat to the Mysore Warriors in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Mysore Warriors delivered a well-rounded performance, anchored by Karun Nair’s (45) swift knock, supported by a few other good contributions in the middle order, and highlighted by late-innings fireworks from J Suchith (22*) and Manoj Bhandage (23).
On the bowling front, Vidyadhar Patil (3/29) and Karthik CA (3/31) played crucial roles in restricting the Shivamogga Lions. Sharath HS’ (4/29) lethal spell with the ball and valiant efforts from Abhinav Manohar (46) and Nihal Ullal (46) with the bat couldn’t turn the tide in Shivamogga’s favour.
Chasing 180, Shivamogga Lions got off to a disastrous start, with Vidyadhar Patil’s lethal first over leading to the dismissals of Mohith Bangalore (2) and Dheeraj Mohan (0) in consecutive deliveries. Skipper Nihal Ullal (46) managed to crack a few early boundaries, but Hardik Raj (17) was also removed by Krishnappa Gowtham, leaving the Lions reeling at 41/3 by the end of the powerplay.
K Gowtham then engineered the run out of Rohan Naveen (11), further denting the chase. The in-form Abhinav Manohar (Impact Player) joined Ullal, and the duo breathed life into the innings, putting together a 70-run partnership in just 43 balls.
However, Ullal fell short of his first half-century of the season, leaving the Shivamogga Lions at 123/5 in 15.1 overs. Manohar also narrowly missed his milestone, holing out to K Gowtham off Karthik CA. Manohar’s 26-ball knock included four sixes and three fours, adding valuable runs to the total.
Karthik CA struck again two deliveries later, dismissing Shivraj S and leaving the Lions in deep trouble. With 47 runs needed from the final 18 balls, Ashok D tried to keep the chase alive by smashing a six and a four off Vidyadhar Patil, but perished in the same over, effectively ending Shivamogga’s prospects. Shivamogga Lions finished at 151/9 in 20 overs, enduring their sixth consecutive loss.
Batting first, Mysore Warriors faced an early challenge as Sharath HS unleashed a menacing spell. He struck in the powerplay, dismissing Karthik SU (8), and then returned in the seventh over to remove CA Karthik (30), who smashed three sixes in a 34-run stand with Karun Nair (45) and Harshil Dharmani (0).
Nair continued in fine touch and peppered the boundary with six fours and two sixes during his 23-ball stay before falling to Ashok D in the 11th over.
Kishan Bedare (17) steered the innings, forming a 28-run partnership with Nair and adding another 29 runs with Sumit Kumar (28) before being caught and bowled by Bharath Dhuri, leaving the Warriors at 116/5 in 16.1 overs. The depth of Mysore’s batting lineup came to the fore as Manoj Bhandage and J Suchith launched a late assault.
Vasuki Koushik, tasked with the 18th over, began with a six and a four from Sumit Kumar. Bhandage then took charge, hammering three consecutive sixes off Koushik in the same over before falling as Sharath’s fourth wicket in the 19th ending a blistering 23-run cameo off just seven balls. J Suchith, carried on the momentum, smashing two sixes and a four in an 8-ball flurry, pushing the Mysore Warriors to a competitive 179/7 in their 20 overs.
Brief scores: Mysore Warriors 179 for 7 in 20 overs (Karthik CA 30, Karun Nair 45, Sumit Kumar 28; Sharath HS 4-29) beat Shivamogga Lions 151/9 in 20 overs (Nihal Ullal 46, Abhinav Manohar 46 runs; Vidyadhar Patil 3-29, Karthik CA 3-31) by 28 runs.
–IANS
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Castle Rock (Colorado), Aug 22 (IANS) Indian Americans Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia who failed to make it to the Top-10 last week at the St Jude Championships, the first of the three Play-offs events, will be looking for a better showing as they move towards the finale at the Tour Championships after that.
Last week Hideki Matsuyama, after leading by five at one time, had to birdie the last two holes to win the St Jude Championships. He became the first Asian to win a Play-off event and it was his 10th PGA Tour win, the highest from the continent.
Last week Bhatia was T-12, Rai was T-16 and Theegala was way behind in T-46, but all three have entered the second of the three Play-offs events.
World No, 2 Xander Schauffele, a two-time Major winner in 2024, was tied second last week with Viktor Hovland, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was fourth last week, though World No. 3 Rory McIlroy had a poor week in T-68 place.
Among Asians Korea’s Si Woo Kim has all to play for at the BMW Championship, the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events, in Colorado this week, with two big goals providing the drive for him to step up his game.
The four-time PGA TOUR winner tees up at Castle Pines Golf Club with the intention of breaking into the top-30 of the FedExCup points list and qualify for the Playoffs Finale, the TOUR Championship next week. Kim is presently ranked 44th after last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
A strong week is also required for Kim to keep alive his hopes of earning a spot in the International Team to face the U.S. Team in the Presidents Cup in Royal Montreal next month. Currently 14th on the team roster, the top-6 after this week’s BMW Championship will secure automatic spots, with captain Mike Weir naming six more picks after the TOUR Championship.
Compatriots Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An, who are 10th and 15th respectively on the FedExCup rankings, are virtually assured of teeing up at the TOUR Championship, which will use a staggered-scoring format based on positions after this week.
Irrespective of how his week plays out, Kim is pleased to secure his top-50 status, which guarantees starts in all eight Signature tournaments next season.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) The packed schedule of men’s county cricket in 2025 will remain largely unchanged, despite concerns raised by the majority of players over the impact on their physical well-being.
According to a survey conducted by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) earlier this season, more than 80 per cent of players expressed fears that the current schedule is too demanding and poses risks to their health.
However, despite these concerns, the 2025 schedule is set to continue as usual. Each county will still compete in a minimum of 14 County Championship matches, eight Metro Bank Cup fixtures, and 14 Vitality T20 Blast games. The changes for next season will be largely cosmetic, offering little relief for players concerned about the gruelling calendar.
The PCA has been advocating for adjustments that would spread out the T20 fixtures across the week, aiming to reduce tight turnarounds and introduce more consistent three-day breaks between Championship games.
“There’s definitely room for improvement in 2025 compared to 2024,” said Daryl Mitchell, the PCA’s interim chief executive, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “The schedule can definitely be managed better. Certainly, the Blast was very much looked at through a commercial lens, trying to squeeze as many games as possible into Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Utilizing the majority of the week is probably the way forward, trying to spread them out to give that time for recovery, travel, and preparation.”
The T20 Blast, in particular, has been the main point of debate when it comes to scheduling. The timing of the knockout stages has been a significant concern. In 2023, these stages were held immediately after the group matches in July, allowing counties to retain their overseas players. This year, however, the knockout stages will be pushed to September, giving clubs an extended six-week window to market and sell tickets for home quarter-finals.
While these adjustments offer slight improvements, the overall schedule remains packed, leaving many players apprehensive about how much more they can push themselves physically in the long term. Despite the calls for change, it appears that any significant reduction in the number of fixtures is unlikely in the future, with commercial considerations still driving much of the decision-making process around county cricket.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) After ending his T20I career with an elusive T20 World Cup title in Barbados, captain Rohit Sharma revealed that it was his dream to transform the team without thinking too much about the results.
Rohit-led Indian team ended the decade-long ICC title drought after beating South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 to lift their second title in the format. In 2023, the Men in Blue failed to win the World Test Championship and 2023 ODI World Cup under Rohit’s leadership after losing to Australia in the finals.
The swashbuckling opening batter also credited the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, former head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Ajit Agarkar for their support in transforming the team and creating a fearless culture in the squad.
“It was my dream to transform this team and not worry too much about stats and results and also to make sure that we create an environment where people can go out and play freely, without thinking too much. I got a lot of help from my three pillars Jay Shah, Rahul Dravid and chairman of selector Ajit Agarkar. That was critical for me to do what I did. Obviously, not to forget players who came in at different points in time and helped the team to achieve what we have achieved today,” Rohit said in a video posted by BCCI on X.
On Wednesday, Rohit was awarded ‘Men’s International Cricketer of the Year’ while Dravid was accorded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023-24 in Mumbai. India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli was named the ‘Men’s ODI Batter of the Year’ while on the bowling front, Mohammed Shami was awarded the ‘ODI Bowler of the Year’.
The 37-year-old batter finished as the second-highest run-getter in the T20 World Cup with 257 runs including three half-centuries and at a strike rate of 156.70. He played a major role in providing solid starts for the team on the slow pitches of the USA and the West Indies.
After lifting the title, Rohit joined Kohli to announce his retirement from the T20I. With 4,231 runs, Rohit is the leading run-getter in the format behind his teammate Kohli (4188 runs). Both batters will continue to play the other formats of the game. The duo last featured for India in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
–IANS
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Gotemba (Japan), Aug 22 (IANS) A year after being the youngest ever to make the cut at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Kartik Singh, now 14 years of age, is the highest ranked among the four Indians set to take part in the 15th AAC to be held in Japan.
As of date Kartik is the highest ranked Indian at 199 while the other three players to have received the invitation for this prestigious event are Krishnav Nikhil Chopra and Vedant Sirohi, both past participants in the event and Rakshit Dahiya will be in the four-player team.
Kartik Singh has also been named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup team. A regular winner in junior and amateur events, Kartik will spearhead the Indian challenge.
Apart from India’s Kartik Singh, there are seven others named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup International Team. They are Joshua Bai, Warut Boonrod, Xihuan Chang, Rayhan Latief, Khanh Hung Le, Thangwin Lee, Anh Minh Ngyuyen,
As many as 113 players have been confirmed for the Championship, which will be held October 3-6, 2024, at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Gotemba, Japan. A full list of confirmed players can be found. The field will be 120 with a few more names to be added by the Organisers.
India’s best ever placing has been second place by Rayhan Thomas, who was runner-up in Sentosa, Singapore in 2018. The Dubai-based Indian Rayhan has since turned professional, and last week won his first pro title on India’s Professional Tour of India Tour.
Krishnav, who plays college golf in the US, is the son of former India cricketer turned commentator, Nikhil Chopraa, who often takes the role of a caddie for his son.
Created in 2009, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was established by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), The R&A and the Masters Tournament to further develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region.
The champion will receive an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters Tournament and The 153rd Open, while the runner(s)-up will gain a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.
The confirmed list which has players from 38 APGC member organizations is highlighted by defending champion Jasper Stubbs of Australia and four players representing China inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking: Wenyi Ding (No. 4), Xihuan Chang (No. 36), Xiangyun Bai (No. 61) and Paul Chang (No. 97).
Ding finished runner-up to Stubbs in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur while Xihuan Chang reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Junior Amateur in July.
Other top-100 participants include Vietnam’s Anh Minh Nguyen (No. 68) and Japan’s Rintaro Nakano (No. 78).
Notable past competitors include 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith. Over the Championship’s 14-year history, the Championship has served as a springboard to some of the world’s top players, including Matsuyama, Smith, Cameron Davis, Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim, Satoshi Kodaira, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Min Woo Lee, Keita Nakajima and C.T. Pan. Collectively, alumni of the Asia-Pacific Amateur have gone on to win 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour to date and more than 130 across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
As the host nation, Japan will lead the list of up to 43 APGC member nations represented with 10 players in this year’s field. A player from Japan has won four of the 14 editions of the Championship (Matsuyama/2010, 2011; Takumi Kanaya/2018; Nakajima/2021).
–IANS
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