The Spin | Heatwaves leave groundstaff high and dry in search of playable wickets

Support the Guardian Support us   Fund independent journalism 19/08/2026 Heatwaves leave groundstaff high and dry in search of playable wickets

Tanya Aldred   On Thursday, the County Championship resumes for its final six-week run, charging towards 27 September with barely a pause for breath. It’s tight at the top of Division One, with only 11 points between first placed Nottinghamshire and sixth placed Essex, while Kent and Northants prepare to elbow it out for the second Division Two promotion place alongside almost-inked-in Durham. The players, on the treadmill since 3 April, and switching between competitions, are run ragged. But no one is as wrung out as the groundstaff, dealing with a summer of fiery extremes, five heatwaves, excruciating temperatures and barely a drop of rain across most of England. In the words of the Met Office scientist Mike Kendon, “the climate of the 20th century has now gone” but the cricket season is expecting to roll on by as if nothing is happening. The Spin asked three head groundsmen how they are coping.

Vic Demain (Durham) It’s been incredibly hard for everyone with next to no rain since the middle of June. We’re fairly lucky in the pro game, in that most of us have got good irrigation so we can keep things reasonably green, but looking at some of the recreational cricket clubs and a few pro grounds who haven’t got irrigation, it is a nightmare – the outfields are so hard and bumpy, it almost becomes dangerous. Unlike most years we’ve really had no games called off because of weather which has added to an already heavy schedule. There is a great deal of demand on pitches which are already almost at breaking point. We are literally hunting for suitable areas of the ground to play the remaining fixtures on. In a normal year we would have each game mapped out, that has gone out of the window – we’re looking for pitches with a reasonable covering of grass which might hold together for four days. We’ve got three more Championship games, two women’s one-day matches and the very last game of season is the England v Sri Lanka ODI. I like to use a brand-new pitch for international cricket but this year it has not been possible. It is also increasingly difficult to renovate pitches. I’m putting seed down but we are not getting enough water for it to grow. Irrigation is fine up to a certain point but it is no substitute for proper rainfall. We have to accept that the seasons are changing and with that comes different challenges, not necessarily just for the groundstaff but the producers of grass seed, and fertiliser – are we going to be looking at different grass species more tolerant to the warm weather and ground conditions we are getting even up here in the north-east?

Gary Barwell (Warwickshire) These summers are becoming the norm which is a bit worrying if I’m honest. Physically it is slightly easier, you’re not pulling sheets on and off, constantly on duty with the covers, but mentally it is really tough. I’m not saying it has the pressures of a teacher or a brain surgeon, but the pitches dry out so quickly, it is really tricky to maintain moisture and if we cover up we can scorch the square. The way things are going, there will be more water restrictions in this country, so we have to be proactive. There are two or three bits of tech I’ve looked at– rainwater harvesting, irrigating from underground and feeding the roots. I’ve even thought about putting a brook into our practice ground – sometimes the stupider the idea, the better it is. We haven’t had rain for months. The biggest thing is staff welfare, with people working out in extreme heat. You can do all the due diligence you want but we still have to get stuff done. I’m thinking of adapting rollers, putting a parasol on the top. Climate change is there, evident for all to see, and if I didn’t try to protect my staff I wouldn’t be doing my job properly. Up and down the country groundstaff are having to do what they can. For limited-over matches there are criteria we have to stick to, basically they want pitches like the M6, but in four-day games they’re looking for a bit more balance between bat and ball. The team have been doing 14- to 15-hour days to get the pitches ready. It used to be at its hottest at 2pm, now the peak is 2-6 so we’ve been running around like idiots in the morning then hitting the shade. I’m glad to see the football season come along because we need a break. When I first started at Leicestershire in 1993 there were about 20 games in a season, which started on 20 April and finished on 10 September. We will have 48 games at Edgbaston this year plus the 166 training days. The schedule is a killer.

Stephen Manfield (Worcestershire) This summer has not been conducive to making cricket pitches, it has been challenging keeping the field alive. I’ve had boys on split shift, working in the dark. It’s all getting a bit repetitive. Worcestershire is not suffering a hosepipe ban, but we try to be mindful not to waste water. The square has to be watered, and we’re trying to keep the important bits alive – but the situation is far bigger than cricket. But we do have duty of care to make sure fielders can field safely and dive around. But the far extremities around the boundary edge and the run-up to the practise area and the picnic area are just a desert. Last year was pretty dry too and it just seems as if we’re having terrible winters mixed with terrible summers. England is built for moderation but at the moment we’re getting 30 degrees with absolutely no rain. We’re finding that spin is becoming a big deciding factor, which is certainly not what New Road is known for! The pitches are definitely changing, though our ground is an outlier because of the flooding and has so many variables. During the second heatwave the office staff worked at home and we tried to do 20 minutes on and then half an hour off – the club have been really good. We’re looking into more sustainable ways to store water, rainwater harvesting, but we need it to rain first. We couldn’t harvest the floodwater because of what is in it. Everything is a bit harder and it’s a bit harder to motivate yourself, it feels a bit like groundhog day, every day.

Cricket links to Soca stars Nadine Drummond’s father used to play in the West Indies leagues and her younger brother is the Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond. Photograph: @panmusic_uk Notting Hill Carnival will dance its way through W11 during the August bank holiday weekend for the 60th year. But, unbeknown to many of those who will throng the streets, it has a generational link to Kent CCC. Malcolm “Mike” Olton was the first West Indian to play for Kent, turning out mostly for the second XI between 1961 and 1964, but once for the firsts, against Pakistan. He was also a club legend for Blackheath CC. His son Michael followed a different path, becoming a Carnival pioneer, and establishing the award winning Carnival Mas band Soca Massive Fancy Sailors in 2007. (Sailor Mas is one of the original masquerade traditions of Carnival, originating back in the 1880s in Trinidad and the sailors who arrived at the ports. At Carnival there is another dimension: “migration, memory and the Caribbean people who crossed water, settled in Britain and brought Carnival with them”.) Nadine Drummond was introduced to Carnival when she was a teenager by her friend Natalie, who was from Trinidad. Last year Natalie called her up and begged her to stand in for her at the last minute performing for the Soca Massive. So Drummond threw on her costume and went. She ended up taking a job with Olton as a collaborator and creative and it was only a few months later when she mentioned that she was going to her brother’s testimonial lunch that the two realised the cricketing connection. Michael Olton and Drummond’s dad, used to play in the West Indies leagues together and Olton went to Samuel Pepys school with her older brothers. Nadine’s younger brother is the Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond. “It was pure serendipity,” she says. Cricket’s summer calendar means that Nadine has yet to persuade brother Daniel to come to watch her perform at Carnival, but she has her eyes on his schedule. “Daniel is very humble, he’s very quiet, he does loads of things, he collects used bats and equipment at the end of the season and sends them in barrels to Jamaica, he’s busy, and he’s not as flexible now he’s captain, he has a lot of strategic responsibility. But once he’s retired, I’ll get him there!”

Stat of the week Bangladesh’s nine-wicket defeat of Australia in Darwin was their second-biggest by wickets in their Test history, beaten only by their 10-wicket victory over Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2024.

The latest from Guardian Sport England v Pakistan: first men’s cricket Test, day one – live Nick Kyrgios suspended from tennis after testing positive for cocaine Premier League 2026-27 preview No 15: Manchester City Israel withdraws support for embattled Fifa president Gianni Infantino

Quote of the week I delete Instagram, the BBC Sport app, keep the Premier League app for Arsenal stuff. But you can block out all the noise, then you get a message from a mate saying ignore what they’re saying about you!” – Ollie Pope on how he deals with social media.

Memory lane 14 August 1948 | “I am not as deadly as you are Rex, I don’t expect to get a wicket, but it’s rather good to be here when Don Bradman comes in to bat in his last Test.” It is 78 years this month since the RP tones of Rex Alston handed over to the Hampshire burr of John Arlott in the TMS commentary box at the Oval, with Bradman needing four runs to average 100. He was, of course, bowled second ball by Eric Hollies for a duck, leaving him with the famous final number of 99.94. The Australia cricketer Don Bradman is bowled for a duck by a googly from Eric Hollies during Australia’s first innings in the final Test match against England at the Oval. Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images

Still want more? Joe Root discusses Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s legacy, and Dan Lawrence’s underrated bowling, on his return to the England captaincy. And it is 10 years since Pakistan’s victory over England at the Oval sent them to No 1 in the Test rankings. Taha Hashim examines their development over the ensuing decade.

Our journalism is free to say what it wants… but worth paying for. From breaking news to huge investigative projects; from masterfully told features and long reads to reviews, podcasts, videos, lifestyle advice and much more. It’s an incredible amount of valuable journalism, and it costs a lot of money to produce. However, we keep our website free to read because we believe access to quality news is a global public good: a positive force for the health of democracy around the world. For more than 200 years, we’ve been publishing fearless, independent journalism. Now, with a daily readership in the millions, we can bring vital reporting to people all around the world, including newsletters like this, direct to your inbox. If you’ve been enjoying the Guardian’s independent journalism since signing up, please consider helping to fund our work. The most impactful way to do so is on a monthly basis from $5. Thank you for reading, we hope you continue to enjoy the Guardian’s journalism. Support us

Get in touch   If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com   Manage your emails | Unsubscribe You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber to The Spin. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396