Counties count cost of wet weather

The wet weather is creating havoc for pre-season preparations in England, and the preparations of groundsmen up and down the country.

Responding to a CricInfo survey, the overwhelming majority of clubs admitted that the weather had adversely affected their pre-season plans, and expressed concern for the coming weeks if there was not a change in the near future.

It hardly takes a visionary to predict that the British spring and summer will be dogged by bad weather at some stage, so pre-season tours have become increasingly common over the past few years. It's been the only way to secure outdoor practice before getting down to competitive cricket, so most clubs opt for a week or two abroad. With important one-day matches arranged for early in the season it is imperative for clubs to "hit the ground running", and the seemingly relentless rain has encouraged even those without plans to tour to seek out last-minute opportunities in far-flung places.

Middlesex have arranged a last-minute tour to Malta as a result of the wet weather. The club had planned to remain in England but spokesman Rupert Vitoria admitted: "The preparation at Lord's is about three weeks behind schedule, and it's not improving vastly."

There are even reports of moss growing on the square at Sussex. The club have flown out to the West Indies, where they have enjoyed the facilities at the new West Indian academy in Grenada, and have locked horns with Northants, winning a one-day series between the sides 2-1. Stephen Coverdale of Northants describes conditions at home: "The quickest drying ground in the country is very, very wet!"

Mike Fatkin of Glamorgan admitted that the club would look to go abroad next winter, as this year has been "particularly bad." Instead, this year, the squad have been sent on an "outward-bound" course in the Brecon Beacons, which, nice though they are, hardly compare with the attraction of South Africa - the most popular destination for this year's pre-season tours. Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire have met each other - with Leicestershire running out decisive victors - and two small-scale tournaments have been played: the Good Hope Challenge, involving Yorkshire, Lancashire and hosts Western Province; and the Winelands Tournament involving Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Hampshire and the hosts Boland. Ironically, autumn rain has caused a few problems there, with several days being affected.

"The present conditions in England mean that outside practise is impossible," explained Dave Robinson, Hampshire's chairman of cricket.

Hampshire will be hoping they've got their batting collapses for the season out of the way already. Totals of 97, 118 and 119 don't bode particularly well, but Robinson insists that the experience has been beneficial. "The team have benefited from this get together, renewing the bonding that is an important part of team spirit," he explained.

Certainly the building of a strong team spirit has been seen as one of the crucial ingredients behind the success of teams like Gloucestershire in the past few seasons, and Warwickshire before that. But it is a combination of team spirit and finance that has convinced some counties that pre-season tours are not the answer.

Mike Vockins of Worcestershire explains: "We see the merit of players getting together early and having the advantage of sun on their backs, but set against this it is usually possible only to take the first team squad - so the Second XI and junior players become second-class citizens from day one."

Despite having seen the New Road ground flooded four times this winter, Vockins also disputes the worth of playing cricket in foreign climes where the conditions may be alien to those faced in Britain. "There is also the question of players having to adjust from conditions in South Africa or Barbados back to cold, wet April here," he reasons. "We have also encountered the experience where players are injured on tour and remain injured for a good chunk of the season, or where players who have been injured go on tour in the hope of completing their rehab and then are injured and set back in their recovery."

Last year Worcestershire travelled to Portugal. "We took the whole staff and no cricket bats," explained Vockins. "This was felt to be more beneficial - but economics meant we couldn't repeat it."

No doubt the demands of national tours are another factor. Many of the leading players may already have spent much of the winter playing cricket, either on a full England tour, or perhaps England A or an age-group team. For example, Mark Alleyne has played in Kenya, the West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He may need rest more than cricket prior to the rigours of the county season. Other players have spent the winter working at their game in South Africa, Australia and in the case of Leicestershire's Ben Smith, New Zealand. Increasingly clubs are choosing to leave behind key players in coming campaigns in order to provide extra time for rest.

Somerset have returned to South Africa, the destination of last year's tour as well, with a 15-man squad. Their Taunton pitch is reported to be "saturated." Whatever the benefits of a good work-out in South Africa, however, the danger of the continuing rain is that clubs may lose impetus when they return home. Yorkshire are in just such a predicament, and have taken to the gym with outdoor practise proving impossible. Speaking for the club, Sue Bowden describes conditions as "a real problem."

With groundsmen struggling to prepare pitches in between the showers, the normal round of pre-season friendlies is likely to be the first casualty of the summer. Even if clubs do manage to play these games, the batsmen may endure a torrid time on hastily-prepared pitches.

Nottinghamshire admit there is "some doubt", while Kent have already cancelled their games against Middlesex and Gloucestershire, and expect to make further cancellations shortly. So severely hampered has the club been that the entire squad was sent to use the Eastern Province Cricket Academy facilities for 10 days. Gloucestershire, describing conditions in Bristol as "extremely wet," altered their plans, and added a further week to their South Africa sojourn when they heard about the wet West Country conditions.

There is some hope however. Nottinghamshire are benefiting from their new covers, Leicestershire's James Whitaker reports that the pitches at Grace Road look "very good" and Essex's David East describes the conditions at Chelmsford as "absolutely fine." Good news for the club, as they gambled on not organising a pre-season tour. Durham's Simon Brown has reported that they have been able to practise on their pitch too, and are hopeful that no cricket will be lost.

There is still time for the Championship games to begin as scheduled but perhaps Mike Fatkin was speaking for everyone when he said, "we need 'him upstairs' to smile on us for a few days!"