Cricket sidelined by pitch woes
Could atrocious field and pitch conditions lead to the death of cricket in Newcastle?
Atrocious field and pitch conditions, a failure to properly schedule ground usage by the municipality and more, mean countless cricketers players are losing out.
Explaining the numerous problems facing cricket in Newcastle, local cricketing legend, Amos Cassimjee said last Saturday, matches were scheduled to take place at the Paradise Grounds. However, players were dismayed to find the pitch had not been prepared for game day, and soccer nets raised the following day prevented the match being held over.
While Mr Cassimjee and president of the Newcastle Cricket Union (NCU), Steve Francis both respect football, they believe cricket is once again being forced to take the proverbial back seat. Mr Francis said throughout his active cricketing years from 1975 onwards, until his recent tenure as president of NCU, he had never encountered such open resistance.
“If the pitch isn’t prepared, a pace ball could really hurt a batsman. The outfield is the same,” he explained. “Cricket is a non-contact sport but one can get hurt because of uneven surfaces.”
Mr Cassimjee and Mr Francis are also concerned about the low quality bulbs installed in the overhead lights, and the sight board requires painting and urgent repairs. As for the fixtures clashes, Mr Francis said the schedules are given to the municipality well in advance, so there is no real excuse for conflicting bookings at the grounds.
“The only way forward is to use the grounds where possible; we must cancel fixtures if the grounds are in use.”
Prospective Northerns team cricketer, Arshad Desai said not being able to play matches due to poor field conditions was saddening, even more so when the field was incorrectly prepared. Long time cricket player, Quentin Ferreira feels the numerous meetings between the NCU and the municipality about the state of sport facilities have gone to waste.
These matters were brought to the attention of the mayor, Afzul Rehman. He responded with a statement that the municipality was in the process of beefing up the sports department, both through increased staff complement and additional funding.
