Cricket Development Officer delighted with grass practice wickets development

Somerset Cricket Board Development Officer Andrew Moulding has been out and about on his travels this week putting the finishing touches to a scheme that will see grass practice wickets in place across the county for the coming season.

When I caught up with him at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground he told me that he had just come back from visiting Weston Super Mare Cricket Club along with Tony Davies, who is the vice chairman of the Somerset CCC Board, and chairman of the Cricket Development committee where they had been in discussion with club officials.

Mr Moulding told me: "We are looking to provide top quality grass practice nets in conjunction with artificial net facilities in all parts of the county, and we have been to Weston super Mare Cricket Club to put the final piece of the jigsaw into place."

He continued: "For the last few years the ECB have been saying that players practice on artificial wickets indoors all winter, and very often on artificial wickets again in the summer, but what they also need is to have grass practice wickets to complete their match preparation particularly in early season."

The new facility at Weston super Mare Cricket Club means that grass practice wickets will be available in all of the four `corners' of the countyat Glastonbury C.C.in the south east, at Taunton C.C. in the south west, at Writhlington School in the north east and now in the north west at Weston.

The Somerset Cricket Development Officer concluded: "Somerset is very much in agreement with the E.C.B. thinking and we are absolutely delighted that high quality grass wickets are now available throughout the county and will be able to play a significant part of cricketers early season practice."