Allan Douglas has served cricket in various capacities as a former club and Bermuda player to national coach. Now he wants to make a contribution in an area that is often taken for granted...wicket preparation.

Douglas recently took part in a ten-week curators’ course along with Cal Waldron, Wayne Campbell and nephew Chris Douglas. The senior Douglas is a member of the Bermuda Cricket Board’s high performance committee chaired by new president Arnold Manders,

“He has been tasked with bringing Bermuda’s wickets up to international standard as much as possible,” said Cal Blankendal, the BCB executive director.

“Through the curators’ course we’re trying to get as many people as we can ICC-certified so that when they work on their club grounds they are as highly trained as possible.”

The course was facilitated by Andy Atkinson, the lead curator consultant for the ICC. He went through the step-by-step process of preparing wickets to meet international standards for 50 and 20-overs games.

Douglas, who has a background in turf management through his golf-course work, feels the groundsmen play a big role in ensuring games are played a good standard, which subsequently benefits the clubs.

“It goes back to the clubs who are paying people to do the job, but what standards are they accepting?” Douglas asks. “They’re accepting that it’s a wicket that we can play on, but is it of the standard that is going to better your players?

“Your team will then do better, the youngsters will feel safe on it and then you increase your revenue because you have a good game of cricket. You can’t increase your revenue if your team is bowled out cheaply.

“The clubs need to know the standard and then they need to drive the groundsmen to that standard. That’s the biggest take-home I got from the course — that we need to set the bar higher.”

Douglas says the work that groundsmen put in is often taken for granted, with clubs often demanding good strips to train on during the week and then again for matches over the weekend.

“I noticed where coaches want a centre wicket to train on, but if you want a centre wicket every day, what standard are you going to have for the weekend,” he asked.

“You cannot be training constantly on that same wicket that you are playing on on the weekend. Then, are clubs willing to have the proper resources to get the standard they need?

“I’ve found a lot of clubs are letting their players down by not making sure they have the proper rollers and cutters so that the groundsman can produce a good wicket.

“It was a great course, now it is up to the board and me to monitor the clubs in the same way we are going to monitor the standard of coaching. It’s incumbent on me now to check the fields and the wickets, and help to educate the groundsmen on standards.“

As a former wicketkeeper, Douglas, like the batsmen, regularly observed the bounce off the wicket, knowing that a wicket with a true bounce allowed for better performances by the batsmen.

“If you’re doing a 20 or 50-overs match, you need to start with a wicket that is dry, hard and the ball carrying through to the wicketkeeper at waist height,” Douglas said. “If you’re not producing that, then you need to ask yourself some questions.

“You just don’t go out there on a Thursday or Friday, roll it, sweep it, cut it and then say ’go ahead, guys’. I remember talking to somebody about a field that hadn’t been top-dressed in years, and that was supposed to be one of our major grounds!”

He added: “With my turf management background, I know the science behind turf wickets. I understand it very well. What is the moisture content and density at the time you are rolling the wicket? Have you recorded the amount of water you put down, or the temperature? Have you done a bounce test on the wicket?

“Hopefully by the end of summer we have a good group of guys who understand what they’re doing and the science of what they’re doing.

“We’re trying to get as many people as possible, when working on grounds, to be as highly trained as possible. I worked on golf courses, I know turf management, I played the game and I love the game, so I’m uniquely qualified.”

According to Blankendal, the board’s aim is to have at least 13 qualified club curators by 2022.

“We want Allan, who does this for a profession, to be the lead for Bermuda and hopefully he can receive certification to start our own curators course on the island,” he said.