Cricket square preparation is a contradiction to conventional sports turf preparation.
Golf and bowls greenkeepers, rugby and football groundsmen will spend all of their available time between play to relieve compaction and assist the grass root zone in recovering from the pounding.
The cricket groundsman will spend as much time as possible consolidating the cricket wicket to create a true surface so that the cricket ball will react in consistent way.
Leading into a cricket match the wicket will be rolled and rolled until no air is present in the top few inches of soil and the grass will be mown down until there is not a leaf blade in evidence.
The process is contrary to everything that is taught. You will often hear it said that if someone could create a leafless grass species that could bind the soil with its roots but not throw up a leaf blade then that would be the ideal cricket square mixture.
The key to cricket square management is keeping the grass on the edge of resuscitation between matches so that there is a partial recovery but without disturbing the playing surface.
Some cricket groundsmen have tried the drill and fill machine and are now paying a high price. Drill and fill works by literally drilling a hole vertically into the soil structure and then backfilling the hole with zeolite and kiln dried sand, that should be consistent with the profile of the surrounding soil.
Bad choices of medium and inferior filling has meant that the cricket wicket characteristics have changed dramatically. In effect, the differences in grass root zone have caused the grass to tuft and grow at different rates because the root zone has been invigorated excessively.
These drill and fill holes, spaced at about 25mm have created mini crowns that could cause the ball to veer off line wildly; the bowler, let alone the batsman, cannot anticipate bounce.
Many Years ago, groundsmen thought that they could get a firmer wicket if they used a very diluted concrete mix. This has since taken its toll on the wicket and some sort of deep aeration treatment is essential to breathe oxygen back into the soil.
Using the Terrain Aeration method, the all important pitching area of the wicket is not disturbed at all.
By placing the probe holes outside of the wicket play area and then sending a controlled blast of compressed air from the probe hole.
Terrain Aeration can disrupt any compacted soil directly under the wicket but without any surface disturbance whatsoever.
Interesting reading: SPORTS TURF AERATION – RESEARCH PROJECT
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