THE BASIN FIASCO.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1555, 26 September 1912, Page 5

THE BASIN FIASCO.

NOT NEARLY READY. OFFICIALS MAKE INSPECTION. With tho opening of the cricket soaSflft only three weeks off tho condition of tho Basin Iteserve—-Wellington's most important cricket reserve—is causing a good deal of anxiety in cricket circles, and judging from Iho present asjiect of the-ground , erickct is likely to be somewhat disorganised on account of the ground not being ready as was promised when the decision was made six months ago to rcgnule fho area. In order to see what is the actual condition of the Basin al the present date Councillors tl. Frost, L. Sl'lCenzie, and .liiliu Smith, members of tho Reserves Committee, Messrs. SI. ]-', L<'ckie and SI. J. C'rombie (of the • Wellington Cricket -Association), Sir. .). C. Cusack (of the Wednesday Cricket Association), accom- ■ panied by Mr. Glen (superintendent of reserves) visited tho ground yesterday afternoon, only to find the position most unsatisfactory. Jn tho regrading 'process it was not found necessary to touch No.?. 1 mid 2 pitches, and in. tho ease of No. 3 tho turf was lifted, tlm ground raised, and tho turf relaid, and oil nil three wickets ' (hero is a good solid mat of grass. All round nil three pitches arc patches of earth, almost bare, in places, and in : ' others just tinted by a shimmer of green. Oil the barest places there does not appear to have Im-oii any grass sewn or, if it has, it has either not germinated or it has been blown away. There - piaccs give no hope of on oarly carpct of green. 11l answer to h question Sit. Glen (suiwrintondent) said that tho ground had been sown too . thinly, nnd when asked whv, slated that the Reserves Committee bad only allowed him .£ls worth of grassseed. On the other band, in a later conversation, Sir.' Geo. Frost (chairman of tho Reserves Committee) stated that thoy hail asked Sir. Glen bow much the grass-feed would cost find lie had said .£ls, and that amount had consequently been voted. West Half—Not Ready Till March! Sir. Gleu expressed the opinion that th# western half (the match half) of Iho resl vo would not 1m available for cricket before Slarch next, and said that lo got anything like a good result the baro patches would have to be resown—another 17 worth of seed would ba required. This rather staggered the members of the Cricket Association, who suggested that the eastern side of the reserve should at once Ik prepared for practice, and that perhaps by tho end of Novem- . ber tho patchy outfield of the match' wickets would bo strong enough to stand, say, a couple of matches a week. It. was finally dccided thai the eastern , half lio prepared next week for practice, that the baro patches be resown at once, and that the committees (Reserves and Association) meet in the Basin again about a month hence to eeo if the prospects of match-playing on tho good wickets aro not more favourable. Important Matter—To be Decided in Committee. 1 While on the ground Sir. Frost: sug« Rested that the Cricket Association might consider tho advisability of handing over to tho Reserves Committee what money it bad in hand for ground improvement, as a dual control of tho Reserve was not desirable. In fact, it was dual control that was largely responsible for the delay that lmd taken place in connection 'with tho.work at: tho Basin. Sir. Luekie said that they _were not prepared to do so without consideration, and he did not think that they could consider ; it at this evening's meeting of tho association, as their arrangement with their ground man. did not terminate until September next. 11l niiy case they could mit consider it in public, but ou Sir. Frost's suggestion, might do so in committee.