Adelaide Oval
Episode: # 12 30/06/07
Presenter: Kim Syrus
The Adelaide Oval is one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world, surrounded by wonderful park grounds and the elegant Saint Peter’s Cathedral.
The first test match was played in 1884 and there have been many memorable matches since. However, for the first time in its 130 years there is something serious happening to the hallowed turf.
For the first time in its long a proud history the turf of Adelaide Oval will be supported by state of the art irrigation and drainage systems. Oval manager, Les Burdett, has been apart of the Adelaide Oval for 38 years. It is his project.
In the old days, the sheep and the cattle were pushed aside, stumps were put in the middle of the ground and they started playing cricket. From that day the ground was developed around that so there is a lot of history in the place.
The ground has a slope of 5 foot 6 inches on the diagonal, has never been reconstructed, never had drainage and has never had pop up sprinklers. They have finally decided to change all that.
They have laser levelled the base, taken all the soil out and conveyed that into a truck. At the same time they have laid a 150mm pipe and put gravel on top, which was a slow process that took two weeks as there are 33 runs across the oval equating to about 4km of pipes!
The biggest problem with the oval was the swales over the ground. The low spots held the moisture with winter grasses growing in the low wet areas while the higher spots were dominated in couch grasses.
The pitch was performing well and there was no reason to change that so it remains.
Drought and water restrictions have certainly had an effect on the oval. If you go back to February of 2006 there were five days in Adelaide where temperatures reached 46 degrees. During that period there was a four day game where the softer grasses on the oval just died as they could not take the stress.
They have levelled the oval out and chosen a couch grass that is far more salt tolerant so they will be using less water, less frequently. The trick to keeping it green is to raise the height of the cut and give it some light doses of potassium and nitrogen.
No matter how hallowed the turf, it can always be improved and the changes that have taken place will make for a greener and greater Adelaide Oval.
www.adelaideoval.com
Presenter: Kim Syrus
The Adelaide Oval is one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world, surrounded by wonderful park grounds and the elegant Saint Peter’s Cathedral.
The first test match was played in 1884 and there have been many memorable matches since. However, for the first time in its 130 years there is something serious happening to the hallowed turf.
For the first time in its long a proud history the turf of Adelaide Oval will be supported by state of the art irrigation and drainage systems. Oval manager, Les Burdett, has been apart of the Adelaide Oval for 38 years. It is his project.
In the old days, the sheep and the cattle were pushed aside, stumps were put in the middle of the ground and they started playing cricket. From that day the ground was developed around that so there is a lot of history in the place.
The ground has a slope of 5 foot 6 inches on the diagonal, has never been reconstructed, never had drainage and has never had pop up sprinklers. They have finally decided to change all that.
They have laser levelled the base, taken all the soil out and conveyed that into a truck. At the same time they have laid a 150mm pipe and put gravel on top, which was a slow process that took two weeks as there are 33 runs across the oval equating to about 4km of pipes!
The biggest problem with the oval was the swales over the ground. The low spots held the moisture with winter grasses growing in the low wet areas while the higher spots were dominated in couch grasses.
The pitch was performing well and there was no reason to change that so it remains.
Drought and water restrictions have certainly had an effect on the oval. If you go back to February of 2006 there were five days in Adelaide where temperatures reached 46 degrees. During that period there was a four day game where the softer grasses on the oval just died as they could not take the stress.
They have levelled the oval out and chosen a couch grass that is far more salt tolerant so they will be using less water, less frequently. The trick to keeping it green is to raise the height of the cut and give it some light doses of potassium and nitrogen.
No matter how hallowed the turf, it can always be improved and the changes that have taken place will make for a greener and greater Adelaide Oval.
www.adelaideoval.com
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