On Sunday the 28th of September 2003 a number of the Clowne Town Lads got together to prepare the square for the winter months in the hope of making the wicket play better during the 2004 season. To be honest the turnout of players especially senior players was disappointing. Players and ground staff who did turn up were :-

John Steers and His Little Helper
Dale Steers
Graham White
Ben Holmes
Phil Bennett
Ryan Bennett
Chris Hendley
Paul Osborne
Matthew Osborne
Matthew Osbornes Mate
Paul Linacre
Matthew Linacre
Matthew Parker
Josh Womble

So perhaps those who did not turn up could thanks these lads maybe by buying them a drink at the presentation on the 11th of October.

Anyway despite the disappointing turn out there was a lot of work to be done. As you can see from the picture below the square was looking good and the weather was fine.

The Ground before we started.

Players were showing up throughout the morning and it was good to see that Phil Bennett had dressed accordingly for this important occasion. .

Phil Bennett looking Good.

Before the work could begin we had to wait for the equipment to arrive, the square was going to be scarified using an industrial sized piece of kit.

This bit of kit allows us to remove all of the dead grass from the square and replace it with seed which will then grow before the start of next season hopefully leaving us with a well covered square. Thus improving the square from last season.

Tractor Arrives.

We learned that the bit of kit being used on our square had been used on first class grounds in the past including Hampshire's Rose Bowl, so hopefully this should improve the square a lot for next year.

No sooner had the tractor arrived was it ripping up the square. It was the lads job to tidy up the mess which it left behind. This was done by sucking up all the rubbish using the petrol lawn mowers.

Work Is Underway.

Work Continues.

After the tractor had done its job and all the rubbish had been removed from the square it was time to fertilize and seed the square. After this was done the heavy work started. The lads had to spread the new loam all over the square.

Spreading the Loam.

Some of the lads could not take the pressure and had to have a little rest. Don't ask me what Chris is doing though maybe it could be our next Caption Competition.

Having A rest!.

After the Loam had been spread the ground was nearly done.

Nearly Done.

All that was left to do was give the square a quick roll.

A Quick Roll.

It was suggested that the lads make some scarecrows which they did, it was said that the scarecrows were based on Matthew Osborne, you will see why if you take a closer look.

Bong the Scarecrow.

And then the ground was finished all that was left to do now was to hope that the rain came down, which it did, and that the grass would grow during the winter months.

Ground All Done.

However it is important to point out that work at the ground is never fully finished as the square will need to be looked after during the winter. The square will also need to be rolled from early february in order to be in top condition for the start of the 2004 season so maybe those who did not help out with the winter preparation can help out here.

However a big thank you to all those that came along and helped out, and I apologize if I have missed anybody off the list.