How Dura-Sport helped Warwickshire to redevelop a historic first-class ground

When the county needed bespoke solutions to offer top training facilities, the cricket surface specialists delivered

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

The prospect of upgrading a ground with first-class history might be intimidating to some.

For Dura-Sport though, their reputation trademark attention to detail meant they were able to play a significant role in providing a new facility for Warwickshire.

The county redeveloped the former Mitchell’s & Butler’s Ground in Birmingham, now known as The Warwickshire CCC Foundation Ground, after purchasing the land to use as an additional base for their growing squads.

After completing previous projects for Warwickshire, including a triple lane practice facility and a non-turf pitch, Dura-Sport were approached once again to design and construct a new four lane non-turf cricket practice facility.

Warwickshire's head of sports turf and grounds, Gary Barwell, knew the Leicester-based company by reputation from his time working at Grace Road.

"The stuff they've done for us has been really fantastic with lots of postivie feedback," said Barwell.

"The installation they put in is an absolute gem and I wouldn't look at anyone else for astroturf carpet.

"They're just a good company and I only work with the best. In terms of the practice facilities they've created here, they're probably some of the best in the country."

But facilities like that don't just appear out of thin air.

“When asked to provide a practice facility, there is a lot more to consider than just how it will eventually look” says Lee Jacques, head of cricket at Dura-Sport and a non-turf cricket facility advisor for over 20 years.

“The foundation of a facility is incredibly important, and requirements can change from location to location.

“We take a detailed brief from each client regarding not only how they want the facility to look and play, but also important details regarding the ground and build location, before surveying the land and setting to work on a site-specific specification.”

The look and play elements for the project were based on Dura-Sport’s four lane practice facility at Emirates Old Trafford for Lancashire CCC, but the bespoke design and layout suited Warwickshire CCC’s specific requirements and area of land.

“There was 40m of space to work with along the length so we utilised it to provide additional bowlers’ run up,” explains Jacques.

“Following a soil survey, we excavated out a deeper foundation to remove additional top soil, then sourced and installed five different layers of specially selected foundation material to provide the stability and drainage required for the facility.”

These layers are a mixture of dynamic and synthetic materials, with the final foundation layer being a specialist aggregate with loam-like qualities, sourced to replicate the performance of a well-prepared natural turf wicket, as per the clients brief. 

Dura-Sport installed a specialist foundation after being tasked with providing the closest non-turf facility performance to that of a natural turf one.

The facility design incorporates Dura-Sport's ECB-approved DSi-pro Vision pitches, surfaced with a unique loam coloured carpet which, when combined with all other facility components, offers the closest non-turf system in the industry in terms of look, feel and performance to that of a well-prepared natural turf wicket. 

The playing surface itself, also available in traditional dark green, is free draining, responsive to spin and seam bowling and is officially the strongest and most durable non-turf carpet available when tested against all others in an ECB-accredited test laboratory. It is manufactured in England exclusively for Dura-Sport. 

The Vision pitches are complimented by DSi-grass, a tri-coloured natural looking synthetic grass carpet, installed in between and alongside each pitch to define them, as well as in the extended run up area, forming a 40mx16m fully synthetic four lane practice facility. 

A thicker, wider, longer and taller heavy duty galvanised cage structure was erected in line with the clients’ wishes, fully enclosing the practice facility, with a lockable DDA-compliant access gate to control use. 

Dura-Sport’s enhanced and upgraded DS HD netting system was then fitted to the cage as well as requested accessories including batting curtains, sightscreen netting and flexi stumps.

The facility was completed in time for Warwickshire’s first team squad to begin practice for the season’s County Championship.  

“We take great pride in being selected to design and construct projects like this, but this service and type of design is available to any client,” adds Jacques. 

“Through 30 years of experience we have learnt that not all clients want or need an off-the-shelf solution and some simply don’t work in certain environments.

“With numerous ECB-approved systems, we are here to help with designs, compliance and advice to ensure that each client receives the facility to suit their own particular requirements, constructed to meet all ECB technical compliance by our highly experienced in-house installation teams. If you feel we can help you or would just like an initial chat then please do not hesitate to get in touch.”

For more information on what Dura-Sport can do for you, click here