By Charles Randall
24 April 2013
Radlett CC started outdoor nets earlier than usual this season in sub-zero temperatures by borrowing the 'marquee' facility erected by Middlesex at their Hertfordshire ground.
Normally a club would not even contemplate practice in such cold weather conditions, but Angus Fraser's determination to coax his Middlesex professionals on to turf in preparation for the English season has benefited the host club.
Middlesex copied Essex's 2012 idea of a steel-framed structure covered by transparent sheeting on the square at Chelmsford, which allowed 'outdoor' practice on grass. Essex have continued their marquee experiment along with Middlesex at Radlett CC, Worcestershire at Kidderminster CC, Kent and Glamorgan, though the players have faced snow and wind chill temperature of about minus 2.
Middlesex's marquee at their new Radlett training facility has proved to be a learning process for Fraser, head groundsman Nick Searle and his New Zealander assistant Regan Sinclair. Fraser said: "We've obviously made an investment at Radlett and want to base ourselves here. Nick, the groundsman, is as keen as mustard to help so we said we'd go ahead with it. In a sense it has been a challenge because you learn as you go along."
When the weather was unsettled, there was constant noise from the wind rattling rope and material against the metal framework, though the light proved to be surprisingly clear. In fact in sunshine the transparent plastic caused glare so that the sightscreens had to be moved further back to reduce this effect. The struts threw shadows across the mown strips, but the batsmen hardly noticed.
The marquee was erected at Radlett in early February to ensure the soil had dried by the time net practice started a month later. Searle and Sinclair, a groundsman on the New Zealand Cricket staff, hired four hired industrial heaters driven by petrol generators to help the drying process after the heavy winter rain, and the players were glad to have one heater on duty during practice to keep the air tolerably warm. Inside was pleasant enough, but beyond the mouth of the nets the air remained almost freezing cold. Woolly hats and multi-layers were required for the stroll over the crusty snow to the middle.
As the days passed, splits and holes began to appear in the sheeting as flying cricket balls somehow evaded the netting. Batting became an increasingly draughty discipline on a true, easy-paced pitch.
Fraser and the players felt the adventure in the cold was worthwhile. "There are two reasons for doing it," Fraser said. "One is financial. If you send a group of 25 people to South Africa for a week or 10 days, it costs you the thick end of £40,000 or £45,000. This net here is probably going to cost us in the region of £12,000 to £15,000. And also I question whether training in Dubai or Barbados, places like that, on dead shirt-front pitches in 40 degree heat prepares you for the sort of conditions we're training in today, when it's quite cold and soft underfoot and the ball is nipping around. It's a completely different sensation of bat on ball."
"So there a cricketing aspect and a financial aspect. I think this is going to be the way forward. "We just want to get out there on the square. We've been practising over the winter in indoor schools where there is bounce and consistency. It's a completely different feel to what you experience in the middle. The earlier we can get our players used to what it's like outside the better."
The Middlesex and Radlett all-rounder Gareth Berg reckoned the experiment at his home club was a "huge help". He said: "In an ideal world we would love to have been in Barbados playing a bit of cricket and to have a few cocktails but, in terms of moving forward and being a better team, this is much more important."
One drawback to the marquee policy could be the future weather. It might be blazing hot when the LV County Championship starts on April 10, which might give the counties preparing in Barbados and Dubai the advantage after all. But for Radlett, any practice must be beneficial before their Home Counties League campaign begins under the captaincy of Jono McLean, the Berkshire and former Hampshire batsman.