Once you have prepared and marked out the pitch, inserted the stumps correctly and set up the rest of the ground[IJ1] – your ground is ready for play! If you can, try to watch the game to see how the ball is behaving and the pitch is performing in the context of the players in the game. Actively solicit constructive feedback on how the pitch played from umpires and players of both teams. You might need to filter this feedback for team result, individual performance and modes of dismissal – so do not let every piece of feedback colour your assessment. Combine the filtered feedback with your own assessment and be objective about your pitch performance – there is always something you can do to tweak pitch performance accordingly! See our In Depth guide to Managing Pitch Performance [IJ2] for tips and ideas – but always remember – everyone is getting to play cricket because of the time and effort you put into pitch preparation – so do not be too hard on yourself and remember your role is vital to the game and everyone’s enjoyment – the game doesn’t happen without you – so thank you!
Tweet