BASIN & CRICKET.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1541, 10 September 1912, Page 8

BASIN & CRICKET.

WILL IT BE READY? PIIOSrECXS FOR THE SEASON. Tho question of whether tho Basin ResOTvo— Wellington's principal cricket ground—will bo ready for tho cricket season, which commences next month, lms been discussed amongst tho cricket fraternity a good deal of late.

Home time ago tho City Council (aided by cricketers) decided to carry out extenhivo levelling repairs to tho grocu, but tho almost incessant wet yvenMicr (especially in July) is responsible for tho ground not being ready for the usual opening of the.season. All tho pitches are in condition, but tho ground surrounding them may not bo lit for play for aomo time—tho outfield is in point of fact, at present still under treatment.

Asked by a reporter as to when hn thought tho ground would bo ready, Jtr. Gleni (superintendent of reserves) statcdthatheopincdlhatitwould bo later than October, before cricket could bo played. In his opinion, the work of repairing the ground had been begun too Into. Very little work had l>een done during July, as the weather conditions during that month had been very bad, and it was not until last month that the more serious work could bo undertaken. "It all depends now, upon the weather," ■continued Mr. Glen. "As long-as wo do not get miich rain, and given a warm spring, everything will go well, but, if wo get much rain, it will rot the seeds before they have time to mature." Mr. Glen added- thai tho work of top-dressing Iho green (in order to have it ready for the coming ' season) should have been commenced at tho close of the last cricket season. , .

Mr. Len H'Kenzic, a City Councillor, who takes some interest in cricket, when asked to say something as to tho likelihood of tho ground being ready for the forthcoming season, stated that tho Reserve would not be ready until late in October. "The Reserve hnd not been touched for 3" years, and, during that time, a very considerable siukage in parts had occurred. At the end of last season tho cricketers took tho matter in hand, and gave the em-ices of Mr. Saundcrs. Progress, however, was slow on" account of the wet weather and the . difficulty of getting., soil,. and. the comicjl put on men in toelp 1 the. work along, and the levelling was completed on Wednesday last. The whole cricket area has been levelled, all the uneven spots being "taken out," and tho hollows filled up. One of the disadvantages of the ground has been the lack of drainage, but now a drain has beenlaid all.along the foot of.the picket fence, and the rain water will bo taken off, instead of running on to. the green. a§ it iised to do. This, of course, will havo the effect of keeping tho groun3 much drier.. .Mr. U'Kenzie went on to say that it had. not really been possible to do very much work in July, as there were only six days out of tho wholo of that month on which the . men could work.

"The ground will not be ready for tiro months;" stated Mr. Saunders. "The grass has to all cbmo up, and then be rolled. The five wickets," he added, "were all-in good order, it was only the outfields that were not ready. Given warm weather, however, grass seed would mature .quickly.

"The Wednesday Association views with absolute satisfaction the work carried out by t:he -City.- Council," stated Mr. .1. C. Cusack yesterday. "The pitches themselves have never been touched, and are all in good order, and I don't think that there is anything to prevent ns from setting a start ns usual in October. The council h&ve done'everything they could in'the matter. The work has been delayed considerably by stress of weather, but it is expected that the Basin will be ready in the -middle of October or a little later."

Mr.' B. J. Eortlang, tbo Victorian cricketer who is now -resident in Welling;ton, hsis hnd a.' lobk'ovorthe ground." Ho sees.no cause for solicitude as to its not .feeing.-Jieady-'iiC-'tinie," and, in fact, is quite satisfied with it. In addition to the above interviews it may be stated that there is a fairly general opinion that one ground on the Basin (there are about seven, altogether) should.be given a "rest" .by rotation every winter. This would mean that the whole ground would be "rested," and, if need be, treated every seven or eight years.