July 28, 2025 • 49 mins
This week on On The Front Foot, Bryan Waddle and Jeremy Coney discuss England’s lack of firepower at Old Trafford – can India square the series?
The Zimbabwe tri-series was a perfect start for the new Black Caps coach, and a controversial player levy was ditched by NZ Cricket – should clubs and associations be able to choose their own technology?
Plus, they have a chat with Meg Lay, the first woman ever on the ground staff at Lords.
Your views welcome at onthefrontfoot20@gmail.com
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk sed B.
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Speaker 2 (00:20):
Take an.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
It's a trick, it is out, The Test is over.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Couldn't a smokes a beauty?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
It is out and.
Speaker 5 (00:31):
Hear you guys.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Just Delivery has.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
In users to Bowl.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
On the Front Foot with Brian Waddell and Jeremy Coney,
powered by News Talks dead B at iHeart Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hello Beck on the front foot once again. We wish
she's been a busy week. What happened of old Trafford
Well a toothless attack. Couldn't finish the job for England?
Five from five for the black Caps in T twenty
cricket That doesn't mean much technology Livy has been dropped
for now. I'll buy a new seven cricket. How are
(01:07):
they going to pay for and a KeyWe with a
high profile job at the home of cricket boy. It's
been a lot of fun this week. J You've had
you beat up watching the Test match. I expected to
see an England victory. They didn't have it, did.
Speaker 6 (01:23):
They They didn't and it'll be a surprise to them.
I think they probably played the better cricket throughout, even
though the conditions favored them, you know, and they won
the fourth toss in a row, but you would have
expected them, especially when India with what two down for
(01:44):
one run at lunch time on day four. So yeah,
they'll be disappointed. And I think, you know, some things emerged.
I don't think the Indian side myself is selecting the
best side they can. I think pull Deep needs to play.
(02:06):
He seems to me to be a point of difference
and on these pictures that's what you need, a point
of difference.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
And Manchester generally.
Speaker 6 (02:16):
Is about fast bowling, even though they've turned the square
around and it's not bouncing quite so much, and you
need wrist spin, quick bowlers and wrist spin. And India
had to win that match really if they're going to
win the series, and they needed to take twenty wickets,
so they had to pick Bomra and in my opinion,
they had to pick cool Deep. But they will not
(02:39):
face the fact that they lack a sixth batsman and
so they picked loads of all rounders to try and
cope with that.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yeah, well the all rounders did the job. In terms
of Washington and Jadasia, I find it hard to call
an Indian cricket Washington, but never mind, that's his name, Washington. Sunday,
Peter Holland is back with us again. We'll equipped with
his black beret and looking like the fine English gentleman
(03:09):
that he is as a New Zealand and most good
to have you, mate.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Good, yeah, good to be good to be here. It's
it's it's hard what to to know what to take
out of the match at Old Trafford. But what I
the thing that I'll say, because it's drawn, which is
that's something of a novelty these days, isn't it. But
I just looked at looked at certain things. I think
(03:37):
England are going to probably come out of this worse off.
They've had to spend a lot of time in the
in the park. I acknowledged that booms bout thirty three
overs did Diday Joe, by the way, he should be
man of the match. The guy the guy got runs
about thirty seven overs in the in the in, in
in in in the in in the England innings. But
(04:00):
what I didn't see was I think England, England has
spent a lot of time in the park, and I
think you have decided if we can play this out,
our chances to draw the series at the Oval. Now, Jerry,
I wonder you've seen the oval a bit. What how
will that play?
Speaker 6 (04:19):
It's a pitch moose and lovely to see you back
from your fox hunting. It's there's look, it's it's a
little bit. It tends to suit the quicker bowlers and
bring this the cordon into play a bit more. Yeah,
but and certainly more if they leave grass on it.
(04:39):
I don't know, I haven't seen it yet, but England
looked to me and that your point about two days
in the park and you know, being a bit leg weary.
They've got players who have played all tests like Cars
who looked a bit underdone. Didn't they really didn't pick
up a wicked I don't think in the match. And
(05:02):
you know they have got other bowlers. They've got Atkinson
who's been playing a little bit in the second grade here.
They've got a tongue of course, who could come in
if they want to replace Wokes. They've got a like
for like in a guy called Cook who's about not
quite the same pace but pretty much a seam bowler.
(05:26):
And they've got a guy called Jamie Overton who actually
plays at Surrey. So they have got others and they certainly.
I mean there are questions around Stokes. Fitness isn't there,
but he'll probably play, I would think. So those are questions.
And I thought Dawson, who had had a good match
the left arm spinner, but he would have been disappointed,
(05:48):
I think in about fifty overs to not get a wicket.
I thought his length was a webit variable. He was
a wee bit short and full on the last day,
and that his line was a bit straight. In other words,
he was landing on the better parts of the surface
other than into footmarks where you can get some you know,
(06:13):
strange bounce and with men around the bat and attack
defense and those sorts of things. So he'll be disappointed
he got no wickets from those fifty yard overs and
to two left handers.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
But you got to hand it to those guys. They
played very well.
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Indeed, Sunda coming in at number five instead of punt
and then Judasia.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
And a terrific effort they deserved.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
They deserved what they earned and a bit have got
a bit fractious at the end, didn't it. But I
didn't mind fifteen minutes extra to be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
No, it gave those players a chance to get hundreds.
I suppose it was an interesting scoreboard, wasn't it. Two ducks,
a ninety and three centuries. That's what made up the scoreboard.
But from England's point of view, two wickets on the
last day, they've made conditions to seat themselves. You would
have expected them to get more than two wickets. And
Michael vaugh One basically believes that the power of their
(07:11):
bowling attack is in Ben Stokes, that he doesn't see
the strength of their bowling attack any of the other ballers. Well.
Philip Tufnell basically says the attack is toothless day five
of a Test match. You should do better than two wicket,
shouldn't you?
Speaker 5 (07:29):
Oh you think so, wouldn't you. I think it does
rather expose now jury. I didn't have any vision of this.
But does Dawson turn it?
Speaker 6 (07:41):
No, he's not a big turner of the ball. He's
an English spinner. You know, there are quite a few
English spinners, but I'm afraid the quality is not quite
there and that's why they've gone maybe for the young
Basha who is a bit taller and gets a bit
more bounce and those sorts of things.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
But England drop catchers. They put down.
Speaker 6 (08:03):
Judasia first ball that was Roote at first slip off archer,
and they put down gil twice on forty six. Dawson
dropped them at backward point, a very catchable offering, and
then Pope dropped them in the covers on the last
day when he was on eighty odd. So you know
they did have some chances to remove these guys, and
(08:27):
it just once again, even after being three hundred and
eleven behind the pitch, it only responded to Stokes and
when a right hander was batting because there was a
bare green line outside the right handers off stump and
he was getting variable bounced. Because he bowls a lot
wider than the other guys, he's their best bowler. It's
(08:49):
very obvious he's their best bowler. He bowls quickish, he
can bowl a short ball and will hurry you up.
He comes from much wider because he leans over to
the off side as he delivers, and as a right hander,
you get the ball coming back in towards your off
stump right and you always think, hell, I've got to
(09:12):
play this one.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
And then he gets swing and it.
Speaker 6 (09:15):
Moves away, so you've got two angles to cope with
as a right handed batsman, and he looked hell of
a dangerous on that fifth morning with some variable bounce.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
He got ra Hall out with one that stayed.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
Down a little bit after he was hit amidships, and
he was going to be the concern. But then of
course they sent Sundar in left hander, and then when
Gil got out, they got another left hander and there
wasn't the same green strip and there wasn't the same
variability on that left hander's side, you know, outside the
(09:52):
off stump. So it sort of nullified Stokes as well.
And he seemed to have a problem with an arm
as well, so there's always some problem.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
I mean, you know, that's I mean, that's that's smart
stuff from from from India. Work it out and dealt
with that following there. I think it sets up the
Fifth Test great And you would which which way would
you pick it? I don't know which way you go.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Well, it's interesting, you know, you look at the sort
of comments coming out of the camp. The talk that
Stokes may not bowl on the Test. You'll play but
he may not bowl changes the whole structure of the
England side, doesn't it India, Well, Borma has been run
under the ground from their point of view, do they
(10:41):
have to go and they want to come away with
a drawer, don't they? In the series? So he is
their key man, but he was negated to some extent.
Sarahs looks as though he's been run under the ground too.
I mean what you say, Jerry is and the Oval
in the past has always been a turning track. I
(11:01):
don't know if it's any different now, but that Culdeep
really has to come in to make that point a difference.
You were talking about jac.
Speaker 6 (11:09):
Yeah, well I think Butmer of course, don't forget philis.
He's had two days sitting down, hadn't he the last
two days? So he's had those and then he's got
three now. So we'll just have to wait and see.
And I guess the captain and other people will have
a chat to him, see can you do it or not?
(11:30):
And we don't know the answer. That punt will probably
will not play. I wouldn't think he can't. Kenny and
certainly the other guy they brought in, Camboge, he'd really
only looked a medium pacer and I don't think he'll
play either. So there are some opportunities, but they're going
to have to be brave. It seems to me maybe
(11:53):
they have to. If Punt's not going to bat five,
who does after Gil? They'll keep the same three at
the top. I would think Rajul just while and a
guy called Saisi DaShan, the left hand of the young
left hander, got sixty in the first dig and nothing
in the second and he's not a bad player. Then
there's Gill, and then you've got a choice, you know,
(12:16):
are they going to have the boldness about Sundar at
five as he did in the last innings. Then Jadasia
they'll need a keeper Jirell he's the only one there.
They'll bring up a backup, I would think in case
he's injured. And then you've got to start to work
out who's left. And they'll try and get Boomber to Playfellows,
(12:39):
won't they wouldn't you?
Speaker 5 (12:41):
I think he plays.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
Yeah, you've got to wind him up. It's really stick
the key in and wind up. And it's a question
of whether ash Deep singers now is going to come
into it the left armor who we haven't seen yet,
or do they go back to akash Deep who got
all the wickets when they had their victory, if you recall.
So I don't know what they'll do about that. Both
(13:04):
sides bowling attacks are going to have question marks about them.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
But cool Deep there's a point of difference.
Speaker 6 (13:11):
As I say, he's kind of I don't think the
English batsmen have seen anything like him too much, certainly
not playing county cricket. And I don't think they'll pick
his his drift and I don't think they'll pick his
wrong And so there are two points of difference in
threat for their batsmen.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Well, they they need to bring back capal Dev to
just boost.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Wheeling. And who's going to push the wheelchair?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Yeah, they need they need a good all rounder and
Capital seems to be the man. Will be watching that
with interest. To talk about three days between tests. I
presume that's enough for them to revive themselves as players.
It's an important Test series for both those countries. Another
Test match that starting is starting in bull Away, Love
(14:03):
bull Away. I made a couple of trips there and
boy are they sociable there. They really look after you.
They love their stakes and you know, yeah, I know,
but five from five T twenties. Guess what ZILD have
only got twenty seven more T twenty matches between now
(14:25):
in April. So you know, if you if you love
your T twenty cricket, there's only twenty seven to go
fill your boots.
Speaker 7 (14:36):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
I can hardly wait because I'll all be the same.
But I mean, I've won the series. There doesn't matter much.
I mean, it's the test matches we're worried about, doesn't it.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
I'm probably over, you know, but it's not going to
change twenty twenty cricket. What I do see, though, is
an opportunity to bring in emerging players and give them
opportunities in games which frankly these once here don't really matter.
But we see what they can do. I saw, you know,
(15:09):
players like Seyfer getting runs, Robinson getting runs, new bowlers
being introduced. I think this is all a good thing
for New Zealand if you treat it for what it is,
which is frankly, an opportunity to bring our players in
and introduce them to the to the international game, and
then and then work out what they've got, what they
what they what they don't have. I mean, Zach, folks,
(15:32):
he won't forget the fact that he's what was the
second and last over us. They went through I don't know,
sixteen or seventeen or something.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I got a key wicket.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Yeah, but yeah, but yeah, those are those are things
that you know, apparently is a good player, but he's
not going to forget that sort of stuff. So great
opportunity for how to develop and work on work on
your games. So that's what it should be treated as. Yeah,
looking forward to the test matches, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
We're going to see that. You don't you don't give
new players a chance, and the test mets they do you, Jerry,
I mean, you've got to go with your front line.
There's no Williamson, it's not your number one team, but
you go with your very best that you've got. And
they've got the players there that should really Dismantles and
Barbie even in their own country.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
But I think at the same time, Moose's point is valid,
isn't it. We've now got we're now building a level
just below and they're starting to threaten because they're getting
those opportunities some of the more established players that can't
be a bad thing. Can't be a bad thing. What
I liked about the result anyway, was that a. It
(16:42):
was a close match, and cricketers need to be placed
in situations where pressure is on and you'd feeled in
the right place and you're aware of what is happening.
Bowlers have got to bowl the ball in the right
place so it's hit in certain areas. Batsmen have to
not miss the ball and slog all those kinds of
(17:03):
basic things that you need to go to when you're
under pressure, and I think that's what that last spinal
against South Africa gave New Zealand. They were they were
in danger of losing that match with only seven runs
required off the last over roll Don Henry and I
think in terms of just the format, you know, people
(17:26):
are listening to this and we're not three who are
absolutely wrapped in in the format, but that's okay. I
think it can be used in different ways to get
players into a position where they are starting to push
for places in the side.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
So it was a good match.
Speaker 6 (17:44):
It was great that New Zealand were the only side
to defend a total in that whole tournament that you
know if you're batting first, and they did that just
by losing the toss and players were put under pressure.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
So I think all. That's pretty good actually, and that
will help.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
The players later on, not just in the T twenty format,
but also another other format as well.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Can I also add that I quite like the flexibility
that seemed to be shown by Rob Walter. Someone gets injured,
Tim Robinson comes in from his contract somewhere in the UK,
Philip Phillips's Phillips is injured. A phone call goes out.
Michael Bracewall, He's in there for a while, gets important catch,
(18:33):
gets important runs at the end, gets wire gets But
I think brace was really important to this this cricket
team because it won can bat can catch as leadership.
These things are really good. These this is great And
I think what he what Walter seems to be showing
is I don't have any particular bias lens or anything
like that on What I want is I want to
(18:54):
see what's going on. I want to see the best
players I can get, and he's doing that and I
get that. I quite like the flexibility that I saw
there around team's chosen and roles roles given, so I'm
quite liking all of us.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
Yeah, No, that's that's a good point, Moose. And it's
lovely to see some of the guys like Duffy for example,
continuing to develop folks you mentioned. It's also what else
is good is that we're not despite all the stuff
that goes on in the periphery of the game, and
shall I choose to play twenty twenty you know, leagues
(19:31):
and so on, or play for New Zealand and contracts
that are now casual or casual I'll look after myself.
You know, we're seeing players look after themselves, but they
still want to play for New Zealand. So Milne comes back.
There's nichemers around, you know, these players. Santna wants to
play and all these these guys we're managing somehow, We're
(19:55):
doing something right. Where other countries are losing those players
to the game. We still have our tabs on some
of those players because they're wanting to come back.
Speaker 5 (20:08):
Yeah, And that's what I'm seeing there. So I don't
know whether it's the change of regime coaching, but I
get a sense there's a there's a building culture in
this side of this group. And I'm loving the breath
of ability from batsmen to bowlers, keepers and all those
(20:30):
sorts of things. I'm encouraged that Brian Waddell Jeremy Coney
on the front foot.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Last week on the front Foot we revealed a proposed
livy in New Zealand Cricket plan for a new cricket
app using the play hq system that was forced upon
Associations when they scrapped cricket hq and twenty twenty one
and that which has been widely used. The most recent
report says that domestic Cricket has had a small victory.
(20:59):
New Zealand Cricket is dropping the levee at this stage,
but it doesn't say how it will be handled in
future apart from replacing it with payment out of the
community cricket budget. Well, that's taking money away from the game. Well,
supporters of crickethq believe the product serves their needs. Cricke
(21:21):
hq owner Peter dal joins on the front foot. Thanks
for your tom, Peter. Cricke hq is still available, I understand.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, Brian Loom.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
Crick hq has been in the community for probably over
ten years and has has an interesting past. But yes,
it does everything that New Zealand Cricket is proposing in
their new product.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Crickethq already does, whether it's.
Speaker 7 (21:50):
Scoring fixture management, stats, player stats, interaction with the clubs,
the players and the statistics that go back a number
of years which we have given to New Zealand Cricket
that they will use. But also there is an ability
(22:11):
to provide a cost effective solution for the players the
clubs of a streaming solution that I have discussed with
Scott Weenick in the past over the last year and stuff,
and they have been interested to know more, but that
that doesn't seem to have gone anywhere at the stage.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeah, and I suppose the technology has evolved, it's more
up to date than was probably the case previously.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah. Look, you know, whilst.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
It's not being used in New Zealand at this point,
there has been work in the background being done and
the ability now with the introduction of AI tools and
all that sort of thing, can bring a whole different
aspect to the game, especially given that crickets Chew has
(23:06):
always been a data heavy product.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
One of the complaints that came from those who were
expected to sign up for PLAYHQ was there there was
a lack of consultation with them and it was adding
another cost to an already expensive game. There's always costs
involved that's a fact. Will there be a huge cost
(23:29):
involved in re starting reinstalling cricke HQ.
Speaker 7 (23:33):
Cricke HQ is basically they're ready, ready to go and
could be installed within a week. We've already our CTO
has already designed a white label solution for Hawkes Bay
Cricket which they used for the River Bend tournaments and
things like that, and all the work has been done
and all the investment has been made over the years.
(23:56):
In an reintroduction, in any partnership, there would have to
be some commercial model agreed. Look, when it was being
introduced to or when it was being used by the public,
the public got it for free and that was because
New Zealand Cricket paid us an amount of money, but
(24:18):
also they required us to do a heap of technology,
so in the end it ended up costing Cricket HQ
money to run community or run it in the community anyway. Ideally,
what we would want to do is work with the
parties if it was to be more of a localized platform,
on a commercial model, which would include advertising and things
(24:40):
like that, to try and make it as cost effective
and as cheap as possible for the public.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
I'm sure that would be what would be of interest
to a lot.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Of end users. Is it easy to use?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
That's the question. People like myself who are not technology literate,
would want to be ensure that it's easy to use.
Speaker 7 (25:00):
To give you an example, I remember when my son
played a few years ago when it was being used
and we turned up to a game. It was quiteouraging
that the mums would turn up with a cup of
coffee each and they would sit down and two of them,
one from each team, would score the game. And that
was encouraging that it was easy to use and everybody.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Was getting involved in the game.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
It just wasn't the dads and the sons and the
daughters or whatever it is. It was actually the mums
were being there because they enjoyed coming along watching the cricket.
Hopefully their son or daughter did well, and they were
able to meet other people that enjoyed the community game
over a cup of coffee.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Yeah, and I think that that was a scene up
and you talk about the Riverband Tournament. There was a
lot of people know that because Greg Finlay's run that
successfully after his father started it up, and it's been
highly successful and used widely. Play HQ failed for many
users and even last year, and some said they had
(26:03):
to ditch it and go to the paper scoring that
can be overcome.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
The idea of crickethq was to get away from paper.
I think the problem. You know, we watched it quite closely.
Speaker 7 (26:15):
The way that it was introduced without sort of any
testing or comparison to the incumbent product was quite frustrating
for us in the sense that we put so much
effort into supporting the community game, you know, meeting all
the requirements of New Zealand Cricket in development and stuff
(26:37):
like that. But it was just, yeah, it was just
really tough, I suppose, just coming to terms with the
fact that the product that they were introduced was a
web based, not an app based, and an inferior product.
It might be quite good for administration, but certainly for us,
scoring stats and everything else that cricket hq is renowned
(26:59):
for was what we thought was a backward step in
the game.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Would your company still be prepared to work with New
Zealand Cricket and the associations if ed got the opportunity.
Speaker 7 (27:11):
We always wanted to work with the associations. New Zealand
Cricket wouldn't let us deal with them or talk to them.
That was part of the deal that we had to
do everything with New Zealand Cricket.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Have we have we been given a fair deal.
Speaker 7 (27:23):
No, but you know, at the end of the day,
you know, we've got to do what's best for the game,
not not and put personalities aside. You know, we have
stats going back many, many years, a lot of them,
you know, the likes of Glenn Turner, Richard Hadley, which
are widely available anyway, but there's a lot of first
class cricket statistics that go back far more than the
(27:44):
ten years that were the amount of years that Cricket
HQ was was operating, and those all those first class
that's that they're there. You know, hopefully we can we
can become a choice of the user or in the
within the cricket community to hopefully grow the game. That
was what the aim was and still the aim.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Thanks Peter, Well, clearly Moosey is a man who has
an interest in the game. I know he has a
lot of support through clubs and associations throughout the country,
but it seems New Zealand Cricket want to cut him adrift.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
WA'SCHR view difficult because I think there was a business there,
but I don't know where it is now and I
don't know where you come back from. I understand the
investors were being sought in the subcontinent, I don't know
where that sits now. But if in z C has
(28:44):
kind of deal with the Australian technology, I don't know
how you are and unwind that. And I don't know.
I don't know how cricket HQ can can can bring
in I mean, if they were able to ride a
platform which is which is free and available, but do
(29:07):
they need the authorization or the consent of nz inc
to provide it? I don't know this.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
No, well I'm not just sure. But once they commit associations,
and let's face it, ented C are the funders of
the various associations, aren't they?
Speaker 5 (29:27):
They the problem?
Speaker 3 (29:28):
They really hold them to it. Yeah, And it's a
pity because you know, as we had Craig finlay on
last week, he is a great supporter of cricke HQ
because they supported him and their system works for him,
and if it works for him, it works for other
outfits too. You know, it shouldn't.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Be I don't believe there's anything. This is where this
is where we have a problem here. It's a pity
that it was done somewhat without any consultation and under
a previous leadership group inside INDI in C at the time,
no consultation. It didn't appear to be any sort of
process where the Australian technology was put up against cricket
(30:18):
h Q. Did you bed did you? Could you quote?
I don't think that happened. It seems to me a
little bit cute and and and it leaves you catching
your head because why would you do that when you've
got a perfectly good system here already which is free Yep.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
It's going to be interesting to see how it plays
out over the next few weeks because the games, the
clubs and the associations need a system that they can
rely on and have some faith in it. A lot
of them didn't have a lot of faith in play
h Q. So we will wait on that.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Brian Waddle, Jeremy Coney on the front foot.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
On the front foot.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
With Brian Waddle and Jeremy Coney, we're off to Lord's Well,
not to the cricket ground. Because while our next guest
spends the best part of her life there. I'm sure
she doesn't live there. Meg Lay is the first women
groundskeeper at Lord's and she joins us to talk about
her job. Thanks for your time, Meg, How did you
(31:20):
land such a prestigious job?
Speaker 8 (31:24):
I think I just got very very lucky, a lot
of right place, right time. I'm just a farmer from Irwell,
south of christ Church, and so to come over to
England and I spent a few years working on the
grounds team at Bristol. I'd loved cricket my whole life
and it was the perfect combination of farming and cricket,
and so then when the Lord's job came up a
(31:45):
couple of years later, it was something I couldn't say
no to.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Interesting really, because you've played a bit of cricket. Have
you had any experience in groundkeeping, in preparing pictures or
doing anything like that.
Speaker 8 (32:00):
No, none at all, And I actually had no idea
what was involved in it, even though I'd played cricket
my whole life. I certainly pulled on the covers a
few times on on a rainy club day, but that
was the extent of my knowledge. So it was a
massive learning curve and it's given me a whole lot
more respect for the people that are preparing pictures right
from grassroots all the way out.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Because there's a heck of a science involvement it now,
isn't there.
Speaker 8 (32:24):
Yeah, massively so, And again that's something I didn't quite understand.
I thought it was just cutting and rolling, that there's
not much more to it than that. But there's so
much technology and precision that goes into it. It's quite intense.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
You had your first job at Bristol in Gloucestershire and
that was a sort of a strange introduction to preparation,
wasn't it.
Speaker 9 (32:46):
Yeah, it was, it was. Actually it was great.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
You know.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
I was working under two guys, the head and the
deputy there, who between them had seventy odd years of
experience and they were just the best teachers I could
have asked for. So I had a great couple of
years there and I learned so much and it put
me in really good stead to work at Lawts.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
Did you have to front up with a CV to
lords to get the job? Was it an easy experience?
Speaker 9 (33:12):
Yeah, you do have to have a little bit of
a CV.
Speaker 8 (33:15):
I did sort of. I had my agricultural background as
well as the couple of years I spent at Bristol,
but i'd also sort of you know, from the first
day I started the job in Bristol, I was just
obsessed with it. So I sent a lot of emails
around the country and got work experience doing the odd
match days at different football stadiums and other cricket grounds
around the country.
Speaker 9 (33:35):
And I think in a job like this.
Speaker 8 (33:37):
Where you know, they are the long hours and people
look for that sort of passion, so I think that
put me in really good stead as well.
Speaker 9 (33:45):
I'm just absolutely obsessed with it.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
You talk about long hours, I suppose your time's not
necessarily your own as such, because you've got to do
so many extra things. It's not just a matter of
cutting and rolling in cricket.
Speaker 5 (33:57):
Pitch, is it.
Speaker 9 (33:59):
No, there isn't.
Speaker 8 (33:59):
It's our busiest days are the non game days, you know,
where we're you know, thinking about feeding the grass and
all the irrigation and that sort of thing that goes
into it. That's where the work gets really intense, and
I'm sure farmers around the country can relate. You know,
there are periods where things are quiet and then everything
happens at once, and it's very much the same when
it comes to groundskeeping.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Do you do everything that's involved with the ground or
do you have a specialist skill because there are specialist
skills I suppose involved, And of course you've got two
grounds to deal with, haven't you. You've got the nursery
end as well, where a lot of cricketers played.
Speaker 8 (34:35):
Yeah, and a lot of cricket grounds around England do
operate that way where people have certain specialties and that
sort of thing. But at Lord's we all do everything.
It's sort of seen as quite an important thing that
we all know how to do everything and that we
you know, we're there to develop as well. I mean,
and what a place to do. It's the home of cricket.
(34:56):
We're learning under some pretty fantastic sort of mentors and
so yeah, it's important. It's important for the leadership and
our team. It's important for us that we can all
do everything.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Yeah, you say the home of cricket. Of course there's
a wonsibility that goes with that too, because you always
have to have the perfect pitch, so it seems for
everybody otherwise you might cover it.
Speaker 8 (35:19):
Yeah, definitely, And I say it's the most scrutinized twenty
two yards of grass in the world. The Lord's pitch,
you know, there's a lot of pressure that goes into it,
and you know that's why it's so important for our
team that we all look after each other. We definitely
do cop it. We cough it most games, to be honest,
there's always you know that if it's a great pitch
(35:39):
for the batters, the bowlers aren't happy and vice versa.
So we definitely cop it. But we also really thrive
under that pressure. It feels amazing when we get it right.
And when we have a five day Test match between
England and India that sort of goes right down to
the wire like the one last week did, it's a
really it's a massive reward for us.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
And that pitch came under scrutiny as well too, didn't
The A's always people not happy with one format or
the other. And of course English grounds and Lords is
no different. Has more than one twenty two yards. They
spread almost right across the full field, don't they They do?
Speaker 8 (36:18):
Yeah, so, I mean at Lord's we have twenty pitches
that we use for different games, which is unheard of
in New Zealand, and we have sixty five days of
cricket over a six month summer, so it is. And
that's just on the main ground. The nursery is another
story altogether. So yeah, it is very full on over
here with the amount of cricket we have and trying
(36:40):
to make sure everything's looking good in the days off
that we have that there isn't a game on.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
The slope. Does there have to be special preparation work
done on the ground because of the slope. Does it
carry importance in terms of watering or seeding, or grassing
or any of the things that you have to go through.
Speaker 8 (37:03):
Yeah, irrigation is definitely the big one. If we are
trying to water a pitch, you know that we're starting
to prepare. We can only water it so much because
it might roll down the slope onto you know, tomorrow's pitch,
which would be a disaster. It's also you know, if
we have a really heavy rainfall, we've covered the whole square,
it's monitoring the water running from the top of the
(37:25):
ground underneath that square. So that can be quite a
challenge to deal with, which is certainly a little bit
unique to Lord's.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Any special sciences that you have to indulge in that
I know that you know the ground staff are hitting
in those little drills, I suppose to pull out the
core of the ground and check and see that it's
firmness And are there other factors involved in terms of
checking the pitch to ensure that it meets the requirements.
Speaker 8 (37:56):
Well, we actually don't really chase numbers. And cricket every
ground is different and they all have their different quirks.
Whereas you go to football wars or something, and you
know the compaction all has to be the same. It's
every football ground has to be the same essentially, whereas
cricket we're allowed some quirks. So you know, for example,
a pitch at the gabber might might be testing at
(38:19):
one hundred and eighty on the clear reading, which tests
how compact the soil is, and that might be their
golden number, whereas for us it might be closer to
two fifty. And so every ground is different and it's
all we're not chasing numbers, but they are interesting to know.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Do you get left with the responsibility of running the
place or as I think it's Karl McDermott now as
the head man, isn't.
Speaker 8 (38:42):
He Yeah, it's Carl McDermott. He's he's a fantastic leader.
He's been in the industry for a long time and
worked at quite a few different grounds, and he's absolutely
not ready to trust me to take on any sort
of responsibility like that at the moment, rightfully.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
So you talk with passionate about your job. Is it
a future job for you?
Speaker 9 (39:02):
Yeah? Absolutely.
Speaker 8 (39:03):
It was the very first day in Bristol, I knew
I couldn't do anything else for the rest of my life.
And every single day I've felt like that. I wake
up and I want to go to work and it's
it is truly, I'm truly living the dream.
Speaker 9 (39:18):
I couldn't ask for anything more.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
Is that the cricket you or perhaps the farming background
that inspired that.
Speaker 8 (39:25):
It's both, It's it's both of those things. It's you know,
I get everything out of out of doing this job
what I used to do playing cricket. You know, I'm
outside in the sun with my mates all day every
day where you know, it's very physical, and get paid
to sit and watch cricket. Is it truly couldn't get better?
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yeah? Had any decent experiences there that you recall in
terms of playing experiences or things that you've seen happen there,
because the best in the world front up there, don't
they and they're you know, they're always at their best,
so it seems yeah.
Speaker 8 (39:59):
Absolutely, And I've been lucky enough to work both a
Black Cats and a White Fans game there since I've
been around, and they were both really really special. It's
be able to prepare pictures for my fellow Kiwi's was
pretty awesome. We've got Cain Williamson at Middlesex now and
Middlesex play at Lord's, so seeing him around the place
has been really really cool. Yeah, he's good to the
(40:21):
ground staff, so we all like him.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
Would you like to come back and do the home
of cricket the base in Reserve? Oh? Sorry, I shouldn't
throw the patient Reserve. It's my favorite ground, you see.
But do you think there's a job here for you?
Is the future in England?
Speaker 5 (40:39):
Do you think?
Speaker 3 (40:41):
No?
Speaker 8 (40:41):
I absolutely want to come home, and I don't quite
know which ground that will be at yet, but you know,
I'd be open to anything. I am just really keen
to sort of bring back what I've learned over here
from cricket in from working at football grounds as well,
bring that back home and sort of see how I
get on how many, honest are We've got ten and
(41:04):
very lucky to have ten. Most grounds don't have anywhere
near that. We have five full timers, which I'm one of,
an ap printer, and then we get four seasonals and
they usually come from New Zealand or Australia because it
works out with their seasons. Yeah, definitely very lucky. We've
got another Kiwi on the staff as well, Dylan Lynch,
and I think he feels very similarly about it is
(41:25):
what I do. So yeah, we're both pretty lucky kiwis.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
Yes, it's an inspiring place when you walk in there.
I remember when I went in for the first time,
I was scared to walk on the grass. I don't
think we were allowed to, but that changed over a
period of time. But it's inspiring and a little intimidating
to a certain extent, isn't it. Yeah?
Speaker 8 (41:44):
It is, and it's funny you actually don't get used
to it. Every time I walk out there, I'm still
going wow, like, how lucky am I? This is very
very cool. Not many people get to go out on
the grass at Lord's basically unless you unless you're a
player or a coach or us and we spend all
our time out there, so very lucky, especially being a
cricket fan.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Yeah. Are you based at the nursery end or are
you down at the.
Speaker 9 (42:10):
I do a bit of both. Yeah, do it all.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
Because having worked over there and been in that spaceship.
I remember once the lift on one side never worked
properly and it stopped before it reached to the top,
and I was in there with Ian, both of them,
and he didn't like the enclosed space needed to die
to any great grant, So I hope that that lift
is working. You don't have to climb the stairs.
Speaker 8 (42:33):
No, it is working now, I can report that. But
they are small lifts, so I do feel bad for you.
Speaker 3 (42:38):
Then it was a tough time, but I was with
one of the greats of the game, so I was
more than happy.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Meg.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Thanks very much for your time. Congratulations on what you've
been able to achieve, and we look out for you
on the Lord's matches when they come up, and I
hope you'll enjoy continuing there at the Home of cricket.
Speaker 9 (43:02):
Thanks very much, Rian, thanks having me.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
Meg Lay the grounds keeper at Lords, and she speaks
with a lot of passion. Jerry, I think he spoke
to her during the Lord's Test match, and quite clearly
she's a lady cut out to do pictures and grounds
in New Zealand when she decides to return, and that
seems to be on her mind.
Speaker 6 (43:23):
Yeah, she's she's a great girl. I did meet her.
I could see her because she's got a shock of
blonde hair, and so I gave her a wave and
she came over. She actually knew us, for Heaven's sake,
that's how old she is, or at least how deeply
she knows the game.
Speaker 4 (43:40):
But it looks she's she's she's just a terrific girl.
Speaker 6 (43:44):
I mean, someone who's taken a risk to go to
a new country. She's she's kind of kind of combined
her past interests and also a real interest, which is
cricket and farming. And yet she has no history at
all in doing you know, and making pictures and so on.
(44:06):
So she's something also of a trailblaze, isn't she. She's
entering a predominantly male, male dominated job and groundkeeping and curating,
and she's grasped the chance that she was given in Bristol,
and she's obviously loves it, and she learns quickly, you know,
that's that's great, and she's clearly liking it.
Speaker 4 (44:28):
She interested in the whole process.
Speaker 6 (44:30):
She was working on the outfield when she dropped her
little rake and that sort of thing, and out she
came to have a chat and you know, I just thought,
you know, she she headed up actually and all female
ground stuff for one of the women's ashes then when
they were playing at Edgeburston, which is a nice touch,
(44:51):
isn't it all an all women ground star preparing the
ground and the surface that all the women are going
to be playing on. And look, as you say, the
main thing as far as the three of us are concerned,
she's going to get all this fantastic knowledge and she's
because she she loves going away and doing sort of
(45:11):
as she mentioned, football games, football match day games.
Speaker 4 (45:15):
As well, so she's getting a wide.
Speaker 6 (45:17):
Amount of experience and she's interested in bringing it all
home at some stage, which is great.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
Yeah, I hope she can do that. And it's not
like the days when we used to prepare pitchers moose.
You know, give it a bit bit of water and
roll it out and the where you go and that's
your cricket pitcher.
Speaker 5 (45:37):
No, no, I I I it's it's whether whether it's
the woman or young man. I just applaud the the
the attitude, the just go and grab it sort of view.
And uh and well well done that person. That's all
I can say. I did a bit of a read
(45:58):
about it, and I think, well, what a positive, positive
human being that is. And and she's a credit to
this country and to break down the barriers that the
Lord should not be underestimated just by the bye albeit
twenty twenty five, but that's this is this is this
is this is important. This is really good and I
(46:20):
think bloody wonderful thrill.
Speaker 3 (46:22):
Yeah, they don't take just anybody at the home of cricket,
you know, you have to be special. And the science
involved in cricket preparation, boy, that's way beyond me. I
didn't pass chemistry, biology or animal husbandry or any of
those sorts of subjects. Yeah, English, Yeah. Anyway, we've got
(46:47):
two test matches and it's going to be difficult to
spend all night awake again. I'll be listening out for
Jerry's commentary. But you can't pick it up here unfortunately,
although you can you can pick it up on YouTube
or something.
Speaker 5 (47:03):
Jerry can't you pick it up on YouTube YouTube, talk
Sport YouTube, and you can get Jerry live and you
can message there. And I didn't message him to say
I rather loved his his his purple or whatever was lanyard,
and he didn't pick up that I'd done that. But
you can get you can get Jerry. You can watch
(47:24):
him on He's sleeping talk Sport.
Speaker 3 (47:28):
Yeah there, Jerry. So well, hopefully we'll be able to
get you some some text messages or whatever they call it,
and you'll be able to acknowledge them for your widening
band of followers in this part of the world.
Speaker 4 (47:41):
Oh mate, it's great, it's great.
Speaker 6 (47:43):
Actually, I love that they it only comes in on one,
one little computer, so I don't get to see that,
so I don't see any of the texts. I'm not accustomed,
I've got to say, of having a camera rammed up
your nose as you pick it and it's it says
you know how you forget and you just absent mindedly
(48:06):
do something, or whether you've got some thing in your teeth. Yeah,
well uh and so look, it's yeah, I'm looking forward
to doing the last test. As Moose said, could be
a beauty. We'll wait and see that. We always live
and hope for those. But I'm looking forward to going
down to London south of South of the River and
(48:31):
let's hope for a good match.
Speaker 5 (48:35):
Is that when when Jerry you've got to you've got
to change your outfits. You've got to look a bit
like a village idiot to rest of them.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
Put on a bearret.
Speaker 4 (48:47):
Oh yeah, I could do that for you guys.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
We'll be looking out for it all right, guys.
Speaker 4 (48:56):
One, Yeah, you've got one.
Speaker 9 (48:58):
I know you've got one.
Speaker 3 (48:59):
We brought our bring it.
Speaker 4 (49:01):
With me wads.
Speaker 3 (49:02):
Yeah, okay, thank you god.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
Guys. Yeah, we'll choose mate.
Speaker 4 (49:10):
All the world the qualities. That's smarting.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
Do for more from News Talks at b Listen live
on air or online, and keep our shows with you
wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk sed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on
iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Take an.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
It's a trick, it is out, The Test is over.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Couldn't a smokes a beauty?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
It is out and.
Speaker 5 (00:31):
Hear you guys.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Just Delivery has.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
In users to Bowl.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
On the Front Foot with Brian Waddell and Jeremy Coney,
powered by News Talks dead B at iHeart Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hello Beck on the front foot once again. We wish
she's been a busy week. What happened of old Trafford
Well a toothless attack. Couldn't finish the job for England?
Five from five for the black Caps in T twenty
cricket That doesn't mean much technology Livy has been dropped
for now. I'll buy a new seven cricket. How are
(01:07):
they going to pay for and a KeyWe with a
high profile job at the home of cricket boy. It's
been a lot of fun this week. J You've had
you beat up watching the Test match. I expected to
see an England victory. They didn't have it, did.
Speaker 6 (01:23):
They They didn't and it'll be a surprise to them.
I think they probably played the better cricket throughout, even
though the conditions favored them, you know, and they won
the fourth toss in a row, but you would have
expected them, especially when India with what two down for
(01:44):
one run at lunch time on day four. So yeah,
they'll be disappointed. And I think, you know, some things emerged.
I don't think the Indian side myself is selecting the
best side they can. I think pull Deep needs to play.
(02:06):
He seems to me to be a point of difference
and on these pictures that's what you need, a point
of difference.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
And Manchester generally.
Speaker 6 (02:16):
Is about fast bowling, even though they've turned the square
around and it's not bouncing quite so much, and you
need wrist spin, quick bowlers and wrist spin. And India
had to win that match really if they're going to
win the series, and they needed to take twenty wickets,
so they had to pick Bomra and in my opinion,
they had to pick cool Deep. But they will not
(02:39):
face the fact that they lack a sixth batsman and
so they picked loads of all rounders to try and
cope with that.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yeah, well the all rounders did the job. In terms
of Washington and Jadasia, I find it hard to call
an Indian cricket Washington, but never mind, that's his name, Washington. Sunday,
Peter Holland is back with us again. We'll equipped with
his black beret and looking like the fine English gentleman
(03:09):
that he is as a New Zealand and most good
to have you, mate.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Good, yeah, good to be good to be here. It's
it's it's hard what to to know what to take
out of the match at Old Trafford. But what I
the thing that I'll say, because it's drawn, which is
that's something of a novelty these days, isn't it. But
I just looked at looked at certain things. I think
(03:37):
England are going to probably come out of this worse off.
They've had to spend a lot of time in the
in the park. I acknowledged that booms bout thirty three
overs did Diday Joe, by the way, he should be
man of the match. The guy the guy got runs
about thirty seven overs in the in the in, in
in in in the in in the England innings. But
(04:00):
what I didn't see was I think England, England has
spent a lot of time in the park, and I
think you have decided if we can play this out,
our chances to draw the series at the Oval. Now, Jerry,
I wonder you've seen the oval a bit. What how
will that play?
Speaker 6 (04:19):
It's a pitch moose and lovely to see you back
from your fox hunting. It's there's look, it's it's a
little bit. It tends to suit the quicker bowlers and
bring this the cordon into play a bit more. Yeah,
but and certainly more if they leave grass on it.
(04:39):
I don't know, I haven't seen it yet, but England
looked to me and that your point about two days
in the park and you know, being a bit leg weary.
They've got players who have played all tests like Cars
who looked a bit underdone. Didn't they really didn't pick
up a wicked I don't think in the match. And
(05:02):
you know they have got other bowlers. They've got Atkinson
who's been playing a little bit in the second grade here.
They've got a tongue of course, who could come in
if they want to replace Wokes. They've got a like
for like in a guy called Cook who's about not
quite the same pace but pretty much a seam bowler.
(05:26):
And they've got a guy called Jamie Overton who actually
plays at Surrey. So they have got others and they certainly.
I mean there are questions around Stokes. Fitness isn't there,
but he'll probably play, I would think. So those are questions.
And I thought Dawson, who had had a good match
the left arm spinner, but he would have been disappointed,
(05:48):
I think in about fifty overs to not get a wicket.
I thought his length was a webit variable. He was
a wee bit short and full on the last day,
and that his line was a bit straight. In other words,
he was landing on the better parts of the surface
other than into footmarks where you can get some you know,
(06:13):
strange bounce and with men around the bat and attack
defense and those sorts of things. So he'll be disappointed
he got no wickets from those fifty yard overs and
to two left handers.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
But you got to hand it to those guys. They
played very well.
Speaker 6 (06:28):
Indeed, Sunda coming in at number five instead of punt
and then Judasia.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
And a terrific effort they deserved.
Speaker 6 (06:38):
They deserved what they earned and a bit have got
a bit fractious at the end, didn't it. But I
didn't mind fifteen minutes extra to be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
No, it gave those players a chance to get hundreds.
I suppose it was an interesting scoreboard, wasn't it. Two ducks,
a ninety and three centuries. That's what made up the scoreboard.
But from England's point of view, two wickets on the
last day, they've made conditions to seat themselves. You would
have expected them to get more than two wickets. And
Michael vaugh One basically believes that the power of their
(07:11):
bowling attack is in Ben Stokes, that he doesn't see
the strength of their bowling attack any of the other ballers. Well.
Philip Tufnell basically says the attack is toothless day five
of a Test match. You should do better than two wicket,
shouldn't you?
Speaker 5 (07:29):
Oh you think so, wouldn't you. I think it does
rather expose now jury. I didn't have any vision of this.
But does Dawson turn it?
Speaker 6 (07:41):
No, he's not a big turner of the ball. He's
an English spinner. You know, there are quite a few
English spinners, but I'm afraid the quality is not quite
there and that's why they've gone maybe for the young
Basha who is a bit taller and gets a bit
more bounce and those sorts of things.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
But England drop catchers. They put down.
Speaker 6 (08:03):
Judasia first ball that was Roote at first slip off archer,
and they put down gil twice on forty six. Dawson
dropped them at backward point, a very catchable offering, and
then Pope dropped them in the covers on the last
day when he was on eighty odd. So you know
they did have some chances to remove these guys, and
(08:27):
it just once again, even after being three hundred and
eleven behind the pitch, it only responded to Stokes and
when a right hander was batting because there was a
bare green line outside the right handers off stump and
he was getting variable bounced. Because he bowls a lot
wider than the other guys, he's their best bowler. It's
(08:49):
very obvious he's their best bowler. He bowls quickish, he
can bowl a short ball and will hurry you up.
He comes from much wider because he leans over to
the off side as he delivers, and as a right hander,
you get the ball coming back in towards your off
stump right and you always think, hell, I've got to
(09:12):
play this one.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
And then he gets swing and it.
Speaker 6 (09:15):
Moves away, so you've got two angles to cope with
as a right handed batsman, and he looked hell of
a dangerous on that fifth morning with some variable bounce.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
He got ra Hall out with one that stayed.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
Down a little bit after he was hit amidships, and
he was going to be the concern. But then of
course they sent Sundar in left hander, and then when
Gil got out, they got another left hander and there
wasn't the same green strip and there wasn't the same
variability on that left hander's side, you know, outside the
(09:52):
off stump. So it sort of nullified Stokes as well.
And he seemed to have a problem with an arm
as well, so there's always some problem.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
I mean, you know, that's I mean, that's that's smart
stuff from from from India. Work it out and dealt
with that following there. I think it sets up the
Fifth Test great And you would which which way would
you pick it? I don't know which way you go.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Well, it's interesting, you know, you look at the sort
of comments coming out of the camp. The talk that
Stokes may not bowl on the Test. You'll play but
he may not bowl changes the whole structure of the
England side, doesn't it India, Well, Borma has been run
under the ground from their point of view, do they
(10:41):
have to go and they want to come away with
a drawer, don't they? In the series? So he is
their key man, but he was negated to some extent.
Sarahs looks as though he's been run under the ground too.
I mean what you say, Jerry is and the Oval
in the past has always been a turning track. I
(11:01):
don't know if it's any different now, but that Culdeep
really has to come in to make that point a difference.
You were talking about jac.
Speaker 6 (11:09):
Yeah, well I think Butmer of course, don't forget philis.
He's had two days sitting down, hadn't he the last
two days? So he's had those and then he's got
three now. So we'll just have to wait and see.
And I guess the captain and other people will have
a chat to him, see can you do it or not?
(11:30):
And we don't know the answer. That punt will probably
will not play. I wouldn't think he can't. Kenny and
certainly the other guy they brought in, Camboge, he'd really
only looked a medium pacer and I don't think he'll
play either. So there are some opportunities, but they're going
to have to be brave. It seems to me maybe
(11:53):
they have to. If Punt's not going to bat five,
who does after Gil? They'll keep the same three at
the top. I would think Rajul just while and a
guy called Saisi DaShan, the left hand of the young
left hander, got sixty in the first dig and nothing
in the second and he's not a bad player. Then
there's Gill, and then you've got a choice, you know,
(12:16):
are they going to have the boldness about Sundar at
five as he did in the last innings. Then Jadasia
they'll need a keeper Jirell he's the only one there.
They'll bring up a backup, I would think in case
he's injured. And then you've got to start to work
out who's left. And they'll try and get Boomber to Playfellows,
(12:39):
won't they wouldn't you?
Speaker 5 (12:41):
I think he plays.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
Yeah, you've got to wind him up. It's really stick
the key in and wind up. And it's a question
of whether ash Deep singers now is going to come
into it the left armor who we haven't seen yet,
or do they go back to akash Deep who got
all the wickets when they had their victory, if you recall.
So I don't know what they'll do about that. Both
(13:04):
sides bowling attacks are going to have question marks about them.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
But cool Deep there's a point of difference.
Speaker 6 (13:11):
As I say, he's kind of I don't think the
English batsmen have seen anything like him too much, certainly
not playing county cricket. And I don't think they'll pick
his his drift and I don't think they'll pick his
wrong And so there are two points of difference in
threat for their batsmen.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Well, they they need to bring back capal Dev to
just boost.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Wheeling. And who's going to push the wheelchair?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Yeah, they need they need a good all rounder and
Capital seems to be the man. Will be watching that
with interest. To talk about three days between tests. I
presume that's enough for them to revive themselves as players.
It's an important Test series for both those countries. Another
Test match that starting is starting in bull Away, Love
(14:03):
bull Away. I made a couple of trips there and
boy are they sociable there. They really look after you.
They love their stakes and you know, yeah, I know,
but five from five T twenties. Guess what ZILD have
only got twenty seven more T twenty matches between now
(14:25):
in April. So you know, if you if you love
your T twenty cricket, there's only twenty seven to go
fill your boots.
Speaker 7 (14:36):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
I can hardly wait because I'll all be the same.
But I mean, I've won the series. There doesn't matter much.
I mean, it's the test matches we're worried about, doesn't it.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
I'm probably over, you know, but it's not going to
change twenty twenty cricket. What I do see, though, is
an opportunity to bring in emerging players and give them
opportunities in games which frankly these once here don't really matter.
But we see what they can do. I saw, you know,
(15:09):
players like Seyfer getting runs, Robinson getting runs, new bowlers
being introduced. I think this is all a good thing
for New Zealand if you treat it for what it is,
which is frankly, an opportunity to bring our players in
and introduce them to the to the international game, and
then and then work out what they've got, what they
what they what they don't have. I mean, Zach, folks,
(15:32):
he won't forget the fact that he's what was the
second and last over us. They went through I don't know,
sixteen or seventeen or something.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I got a key wicket.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Yeah, but yeah, but yeah, those are those are things
that you know, apparently is a good player, but he's
not going to forget that sort of stuff. So great
opportunity for how to develop and work on work on
your games. So that's what it should be treated as. Yeah,
looking forward to the test matches, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
We're going to see that. You don't you don't give
new players a chance, and the test mets they do you, Jerry,
I mean, you've got to go with your front line.
There's no Williamson, it's not your number one team, but
you go with your very best that you've got. And
they've got the players there that should really Dismantles and
Barbie even in their own country.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 6 (16:19):
But I think at the same time, Moose's point is valid,
isn't it. We've now got we're now building a level
just below and they're starting to threaten because they're getting
those opportunities some of the more established players that can't
be a bad thing. Can't be a bad thing. What
I liked about the result anyway, was that a. It
(16:42):
was a close match, and cricketers need to be placed
in situations where pressure is on and you'd feeled in
the right place and you're aware of what is happening.
Bowlers have got to bowl the ball in the right
place so it's hit in certain areas. Batsmen have to
not miss the ball and slog all those kinds of
(17:03):
basic things that you need to go to when you're
under pressure, and I think that's what that last spinal
against South Africa gave New Zealand. They were they were
in danger of losing that match with only seven runs
required off the last over roll Don Henry and I
think in terms of just the format, you know, people
(17:26):
are listening to this and we're not three who are
absolutely wrapped in in the format, but that's okay. I
think it can be used in different ways to get
players into a position where they are starting to push
for places in the side.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
So it was a good match.
Speaker 6 (17:44):
It was great that New Zealand were the only side
to defend a total in that whole tournament that you
know if you're batting first, and they did that just
by losing the toss and players were put under pressure.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
So I think all. That's pretty good actually, and that
will help.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
The players later on, not just in the T twenty format,
but also another other format as well.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Can I also add that I quite like the flexibility
that seemed to be shown by Rob Walter. Someone gets injured,
Tim Robinson comes in from his contract somewhere in the UK,
Philip Phillips's Phillips is injured. A phone call goes out.
Michael Bracewall, He's in there for a while, gets important catch,
(18:33):
gets important runs at the end, gets wire gets But
I think brace was really important to this this cricket
team because it won can bat can catch as leadership.
These things are really good. These this is great And
I think what he what Walter seems to be showing
is I don't have any particular bias lens or anything
like that on What I want is I want to
(18:54):
see what's going on. I want to see the best
players I can get, and he's doing that and I
get that. I quite like the flexibility that I saw
there around team's chosen and roles roles given, so I'm
quite liking all of us.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
Yeah, No, that's that's a good point, Moose. And it's
lovely to see some of the guys like Duffy for example,
continuing to develop folks you mentioned. It's also what else
is good is that we're not despite all the stuff
that goes on in the periphery of the game, and
shall I choose to play twenty twenty you know, leagues
(19:31):
and so on, or play for New Zealand and contracts
that are now casual or casual I'll look after myself.
You know, we're seeing players look after themselves, but they
still want to play for New Zealand. So Milne comes back.
There's nichemers around, you know, these players. Santna wants to
play and all these these guys we're managing somehow, We're
(19:55):
doing something right. Where other countries are losing those players
to the game. We still have our tabs on some
of those players because they're wanting to come back.
Speaker 5 (20:08):
Yeah, And that's what I'm seeing there. So I don't
know whether it's the change of regime coaching, but I
get a sense there's a there's a building culture in
this side of this group. And I'm loving the breath
of ability from batsmen to bowlers, keepers and all those
(20:30):
sorts of things. I'm encouraged that Brian Waddell Jeremy Coney
on the front foot.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Last week on the front Foot we revealed a proposed
livy in New Zealand Cricket plan for a new cricket
app using the play hq system that was forced upon
Associations when they scrapped cricket hq and twenty twenty one
and that which has been widely used. The most recent
report says that domestic Cricket has had a small victory.
(20:59):
New Zealand Cricket is dropping the levee at this stage,
but it doesn't say how it will be handled in
future apart from replacing it with payment out of the
community cricket budget. Well, that's taking money away from the game. Well,
supporters of crickethq believe the product serves their needs. Cricke
(21:21):
hq owner Peter dal joins on the front foot. Thanks
for your tom, Peter. Cricke hq is still available, I understand.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, Brian Loom.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
Crick hq has been in the community for probably over
ten years and has has an interesting past. But yes,
it does everything that New Zealand Cricket is proposing in
their new product.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Crickethq already does, whether it's.
Speaker 7 (21:50):
Scoring fixture management, stats, player stats, interaction with the clubs,
the players and the statistics that go back a number
of years which we have given to New Zealand Cricket
that they will use. But also there is an ability
(22:11):
to provide a cost effective solution for the players the
clubs of a streaming solution that I have discussed with
Scott Weenick in the past over the last year and stuff,
and they have been interested to know more, but that
that doesn't seem to have gone anywhere at the stage.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeah, and I suppose the technology has evolved, it's more
up to date than was probably the case previously.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah. Look, you know, whilst.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
It's not being used in New Zealand at this point,
there has been work in the background being done and
the ability now with the introduction of AI tools and
all that sort of thing, can bring a whole different
aspect to the game, especially given that crickets Chew has
(23:06):
always been a data heavy product.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
One of the complaints that came from those who were
expected to sign up for PLAYHQ was there there was
a lack of consultation with them and it was adding
another cost to an already expensive game. There's always costs
involved that's a fact. Will there be a huge cost
(23:29):
involved in re starting reinstalling cricke HQ.
Speaker 7 (23:33):
Cricke HQ is basically they're ready, ready to go and
could be installed within a week. We've already our CTO
has already designed a white label solution for Hawkes Bay
Cricket which they used for the River Bend tournaments and
things like that, and all the work has been done
and all the investment has been made over the years.
(23:56):
In an reintroduction, in any partnership, there would have to
be some commercial model agreed. Look, when it was being
introduced to or when it was being used by the public,
the public got it for free and that was because
New Zealand Cricket paid us an amount of money, but
(24:18):
also they required us to do a heap of technology,
so in the end it ended up costing Cricket HQ
money to run community or run it in the community anyway. Ideally,
what we would want to do is work with the
parties if it was to be more of a localized platform,
on a commercial model, which would include advertising and things
(24:40):
like that, to try and make it as cost effective
and as cheap as possible for the public.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
I'm sure that would be what would be of interest
to a lot.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Of end users. Is it easy to use?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
That's the question. People like myself who are not technology literate,
would want to be ensure that it's easy to use.
Speaker 7 (25:00):
To give you an example, I remember when my son
played a few years ago when it was being used
and we turned up to a game. It was quiteouraging
that the mums would turn up with a cup of
coffee each and they would sit down and two of them,
one from each team, would score the game. And that
was encouraging that it was easy to use and everybody.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Was getting involved in the game.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
It just wasn't the dads and the sons and the
daughters or whatever it is. It was actually the mums
were being there because they enjoyed coming along watching the cricket.
Hopefully their son or daughter did well, and they were
able to meet other people that enjoyed the community game
over a cup of coffee.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Yeah, and I think that that was a scene up
and you talk about the Riverband Tournament. There was a
lot of people know that because Greg Finlay's run that
successfully after his father started it up, and it's been
highly successful and used widely. Play HQ failed for many
users and even last year, and some said they had
(26:03):
to ditch it and go to the paper scoring that
can be overcome.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
The idea of crickethq was to get away from paper.
I think the problem. You know, we watched it quite closely.
Speaker 7 (26:15):
The way that it was introduced without sort of any
testing or comparison to the incumbent product was quite frustrating
for us in the sense that we put so much
effort into supporting the community game, you know, meeting all
the requirements of New Zealand Cricket in development and stuff
(26:37):
like that. But it was just, yeah, it was just
really tough, I suppose, just coming to terms with the
fact that the product that they were introduced was a
web based, not an app based, and an inferior product.
It might be quite good for administration, but certainly for us,
scoring stats and everything else that cricket hq is renowned
(26:59):
for was what we thought was a backward step in
the game.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Would your company still be prepared to work with New
Zealand Cricket and the associations if ed got the opportunity.
Speaker 7 (27:11):
We always wanted to work with the associations. New Zealand
Cricket wouldn't let us deal with them or talk to them.
That was part of the deal that we had to
do everything with New Zealand Cricket.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Have we have we been given a fair deal.
Speaker 7 (27:23):
No, but you know, at the end of the day,
you know, we've got to do what's best for the game,
not not and put personalities aside. You know, we have
stats going back many, many years, a lot of them,
you know, the likes of Glenn Turner, Richard Hadley, which
are widely available anyway, but there's a lot of first
class cricket statistics that go back far more than the
(27:44):
ten years that were the amount of years that Cricket
HQ was was operating, and those all those first class
that's that they're there. You know, hopefully we can we
can become a choice of the user or in the
within the cricket community to hopefully grow the game. That
was what the aim was and still the aim.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Thanks Peter, Well, clearly Moosey is a man who has
an interest in the game. I know he has a
lot of support through clubs and associations throughout the country,
but it seems New Zealand Cricket want to cut him adrift.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
WA'SCHR view difficult because I think there was a business there,
but I don't know where it is now and I
don't know where you come back from. I understand the
investors were being sought in the subcontinent, I don't know
where that sits now. But if in z C has
(28:44):
kind of deal with the Australian technology, I don't know
how you are and unwind that. And I don't know.
I don't know how cricket HQ can can can bring
in I mean, if they were able to ride a
platform which is which is free and available, but do
(29:07):
they need the authorization or the consent of nz inc
to provide it? I don't know this.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
No, well I'm not just sure. But once they commit associations,
and let's face it, ented C are the funders of
the various associations, aren't they?
Speaker 5 (29:27):
They the problem?
Speaker 3 (29:28):
They really hold them to it. Yeah, And it's a
pity because you know, as we had Craig finlay on
last week, he is a great supporter of cricke HQ
because they supported him and their system works for him,
and if it works for him, it works for other
outfits too. You know, it shouldn't.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Be I don't believe there's anything. This is where this
is where we have a problem here. It's a pity
that it was done somewhat without any consultation and under
a previous leadership group inside INDI in C at the time,
no consultation. It didn't appear to be any sort of
process where the Australian technology was put up against cricket
(30:18):
h Q. Did you bed did you? Could you quote?
I don't think that happened. It seems to me a
little bit cute and and and it leaves you catching
your head because why would you do that when you've
got a perfectly good system here already which is free Yep.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
It's going to be interesting to see how it plays
out over the next few weeks because the games, the
clubs and the associations need a system that they can
rely on and have some faith in it. A lot
of them didn't have a lot of faith in play
h Q. So we will wait on that.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Brian Waddle, Jeremy Coney on the front foot.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
On the front foot.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
With Brian Waddle and Jeremy Coney, we're off to Lord's Well,
not to the cricket ground. Because while our next guest
spends the best part of her life there. I'm sure
she doesn't live there. Meg Lay is the first women
groundskeeper at Lord's and she joins us to talk about
her job. Thanks for your time, Meg, How did you
(31:20):
land such a prestigious job?
Speaker 8 (31:24):
I think I just got very very lucky, a lot
of right place, right time. I'm just a farmer from Irwell,
south of christ Church, and so to come over to
England and I spent a few years working on the
grounds team at Bristol. I'd loved cricket my whole life
and it was the perfect combination of farming and cricket,
and so then when the Lord's job came up a
(31:45):
couple of years later, it was something I couldn't say
no to.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Interesting really, because you've played a bit of cricket. Have
you had any experience in groundkeeping, in preparing pictures or
doing anything like that.
Speaker 8 (32:00):
No, none at all, And I actually had no idea
what was involved in it, even though I'd played cricket
my whole life. I certainly pulled on the covers a
few times on on a rainy club day, but that
was the extent of my knowledge. So it was a
massive learning curve and it's given me a whole lot
more respect for the people that are preparing pictures right
from grassroots all the way out.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Because there's a heck of a science involvement it now,
isn't there.
Speaker 8 (32:24):
Yeah, massively so, And again that's something I didn't quite understand.
I thought it was just cutting and rolling, that there's
not much more to it than that. But there's so
much technology and precision that goes into it. It's quite intense.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
You had your first job at Bristol in Gloucestershire and
that was a sort of a strange introduction to preparation,
wasn't it.
Speaker 9 (32:46):
Yeah, it was, it was. Actually it was great.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
You know.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
I was working under two guys, the head and the
deputy there, who between them had seventy odd years of
experience and they were just the best teachers I could
have asked for. So I had a great couple of
years there and I learned so much and it put
me in really good stead to work at Lawts.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
Did you have to front up with a CV to
lords to get the job? Was it an easy experience?
Speaker 9 (33:12):
Yeah, you do have to have a little bit of
a CV.
Speaker 8 (33:15):
I did sort of. I had my agricultural background as
well as the couple of years I spent at Bristol,
but i'd also sort of you know, from the first
day I started the job in Bristol, I was just
obsessed with it. So I sent a lot of emails
around the country and got work experience doing the odd
match days at different football stadiums and other cricket grounds
around the country.
Speaker 9 (33:35):
And I think in a job like this.
Speaker 8 (33:37):
Where you know, they are the long hours and people
look for that sort of passion, so I think that
put me in really good stead as well.
Speaker 9 (33:45):
I'm just absolutely obsessed with it.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
You talk about long hours, I suppose your time's not
necessarily your own as such, because you've got to do
so many extra things. It's not just a matter of
cutting and rolling in cricket.
Speaker 5 (33:57):
Pitch, is it.
Speaker 9 (33:59):
No, there isn't.
Speaker 8 (33:59):
It's our busiest days are the non game days, you know,
where we're you know, thinking about feeding the grass and
all the irrigation and that sort of thing that goes
into it. That's where the work gets really intense, and
I'm sure farmers around the country can relate. You know,
there are periods where things are quiet and then everything
happens at once, and it's very much the same when
it comes to groundskeeping.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Do you do everything that's involved with the ground or
do you have a specialist skill because there are specialist
skills I suppose involved, And of course you've got two
grounds to deal with, haven't you. You've got the nursery
end as well, where a lot of cricketers played.
Speaker 8 (34:35):
Yeah, and a lot of cricket grounds around England do
operate that way where people have certain specialties and that
sort of thing. But at Lord's we all do everything.
It's sort of seen as quite an important thing that
we all know how to do everything and that we
you know, we're there to develop as well. I mean,
and what a place to do. It's the home of cricket.
(34:56):
We're learning under some pretty fantastic sort of mentors and
so yeah, it's important. It's important for the leadership and
our team. It's important for us that we can all
do everything.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Yeah, you say the home of cricket. Of course there's
a wonsibility that goes with that too, because you always
have to have the perfect pitch, so it seems for
everybody otherwise you might cover it.
Speaker 8 (35:19):
Yeah, definitely, And I say it's the most scrutinized twenty
two yards of grass in the world. The Lord's pitch,
you know, there's a lot of pressure that goes into it,
and you know that's why it's so important for our
team that we all look after each other. We definitely
do cop it. We cough it most games, to be honest,
there's always you know that if it's a great pitch
(35:39):
for the batters, the bowlers aren't happy and vice versa.
So we definitely cop it. But we also really thrive
under that pressure. It feels amazing when we get it right.
And when we have a five day Test match between
England and India that sort of goes right down to
the wire like the one last week did, it's a
really it's a massive reward for us.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
And that pitch came under scrutiny as well too, didn't
The A's always people not happy with one format or
the other. And of course English grounds and Lords is
no different. Has more than one twenty two yards. They
spread almost right across the full field, don't they They do?
Speaker 8 (36:18):
Yeah, so, I mean at Lord's we have twenty pitches
that we use for different games, which is unheard of
in New Zealand, and we have sixty five days of
cricket over a six month summer, so it is. And
that's just on the main ground. The nursery is another
story altogether. So yeah, it is very full on over
here with the amount of cricket we have and trying
(36:40):
to make sure everything's looking good in the days off
that we have that there isn't a game on.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
The slope. Does there have to be special preparation work
done on the ground because of the slope. Does it
carry importance in terms of watering or seeding, or grassing
or any of the things that you have to go through.
Speaker 8 (37:03):
Yeah, irrigation is definitely the big one. If we are
trying to water a pitch, you know that we're starting
to prepare. We can only water it so much because
it might roll down the slope onto you know, tomorrow's pitch,
which would be a disaster. It's also you know, if
we have a really heavy rainfall, we've covered the whole square,
it's monitoring the water running from the top of the
(37:25):
ground underneath that square. So that can be quite a
challenge to deal with, which is certainly a little bit
unique to Lord's.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Any special sciences that you have to indulge in that
I know that you know the ground staff are hitting
in those little drills, I suppose to pull out the
core of the ground and check and see that it's
firmness And are there other factors involved in terms of
checking the pitch to ensure that it meets the requirements.
Speaker 8 (37:56):
Well, we actually don't really chase numbers. And cricket every
ground is different and they all have their different quirks.
Whereas you go to football wars or something, and you
know the compaction all has to be the same. It's
every football ground has to be the same essentially, whereas
cricket we're allowed some quirks. So you know, for example,
a pitch at the gabber might might be testing at
(38:19):
one hundred and eighty on the clear reading, which tests
how compact the soil is, and that might be their
golden number, whereas for us it might be closer to
two fifty. And so every ground is different and it's
all we're not chasing numbers, but they are interesting to know.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Do you get left with the responsibility of running the
place or as I think it's Karl McDermott now as
the head man, isn't.
Speaker 8 (38:42):
He Yeah, it's Carl McDermott. He's he's a fantastic leader.
He's been in the industry for a long time and
worked at quite a few different grounds, and he's absolutely
not ready to trust me to take on any sort
of responsibility like that at the moment, rightfully.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
So you talk with passionate about your job. Is it
a future job for you?
Speaker 9 (39:02):
Yeah? Absolutely.
Speaker 8 (39:03):
It was the very first day in Bristol, I knew
I couldn't do anything else for the rest of my life.
And every single day I've felt like that. I wake
up and I want to go to work and it's
it is truly, I'm truly living the dream.
Speaker 9 (39:18):
I couldn't ask for anything more.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
Is that the cricket you or perhaps the farming background
that inspired that.
Speaker 8 (39:25):
It's both, It's it's both of those things. It's you know,
I get everything out of out of doing this job
what I used to do playing cricket. You know, I'm
outside in the sun with my mates all day every
day where you know, it's very physical, and get paid
to sit and watch cricket. Is it truly couldn't get better?
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yeah? Had any decent experiences there that you recall in
terms of playing experiences or things that you've seen happen there,
because the best in the world front up there, don't
they and they're you know, they're always at their best,
so it seems yeah.
Speaker 8 (39:59):
Absolutely, And I've been lucky enough to work both a
Black Cats and a White Fans game there since I've
been around, and they were both really really special. It's
be able to prepare pictures for my fellow Kiwi's was
pretty awesome. We've got Cain Williamson at Middlesex now and
Middlesex play at Lord's, so seeing him around the place
has been really really cool. Yeah, he's good to the
(40:21):
ground staff, so we all like him.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
Would you like to come back and do the home
of cricket the base in Reserve? Oh? Sorry, I shouldn't
throw the patient Reserve. It's my favorite ground, you see.
But do you think there's a job here for you?
Is the future in England?
Speaker 5 (40:39):
Do you think?
Speaker 3 (40:41):
No?
Speaker 8 (40:41):
I absolutely want to come home, and I don't quite
know which ground that will be at yet, but you know,
I'd be open to anything. I am just really keen
to sort of bring back what I've learned over here
from cricket in from working at football grounds as well,
bring that back home and sort of see how I
get on how many, honest are We've got ten and
(41:04):
very lucky to have ten. Most grounds don't have anywhere
near that. We have five full timers, which I'm one of,
an ap printer, and then we get four seasonals and
they usually come from New Zealand or Australia because it
works out with their seasons. Yeah, definitely very lucky. We've
got another Kiwi on the staff as well, Dylan Lynch,
and I think he feels very similarly about it is
(41:25):
what I do. So yeah, we're both pretty lucky kiwis.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
Yes, it's an inspiring place when you walk in there.
I remember when I went in for the first time,
I was scared to walk on the grass. I don't
think we were allowed to, but that changed over a
period of time. But it's inspiring and a little intimidating
to a certain extent, isn't it. Yeah?
Speaker 8 (41:44):
It is, and it's funny you actually don't get used
to it. Every time I walk out there, I'm still
going wow, like, how lucky am I? This is very
very cool. Not many people get to go out on
the grass at Lord's basically unless you unless you're a
player or a coach or us and we spend all
our time out there, so very lucky, especially being a
cricket fan.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Yeah. Are you based at the nursery end or are
you down at the.
Speaker 9 (42:10):
I do a bit of both. Yeah, do it all.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
Because having worked over there and been in that spaceship.
I remember once the lift on one side never worked
properly and it stopped before it reached to the top,
and I was in there with Ian, both of them,
and he didn't like the enclosed space needed to die
to any great grant, So I hope that that lift
is working. You don't have to climb the stairs.
Speaker 8 (42:33):
No, it is working now, I can report that. But
they are small lifts, so I do feel bad for you.
Speaker 3 (42:38):
Then it was a tough time, but I was with
one of the greats of the game, so I was
more than happy.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Meg.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Thanks very much for your time. Congratulations on what you've
been able to achieve, and we look out for you
on the Lord's matches when they come up, and I
hope you'll enjoy continuing there at the Home of cricket.
Speaker 9 (43:02):
Thanks very much, Rian, thanks having me.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
Meg Lay the grounds keeper at Lords, and she speaks
with a lot of passion. Jerry, I think he spoke
to her during the Lord's Test match, and quite clearly
she's a lady cut out to do pictures and grounds
in New Zealand when she decides to return, and that
seems to be on her mind.
Speaker 6 (43:23):
Yeah, she's she's a great girl. I did meet her.
I could see her because she's got a shock of
blonde hair, and so I gave her a wave and
she came over. She actually knew us, for Heaven's sake,
that's how old she is, or at least how deeply
she knows the game.
Speaker 4 (43:40):
But it looks she's she's she's just a terrific girl.
Speaker 6 (43:44):
I mean, someone who's taken a risk to go to
a new country. She's she's kind of kind of combined
her past interests and also a real interest, which is
cricket and farming. And yet she has no history at
all in doing you know, and making pictures and so on.
(44:06):
So she's something also of a trailblaze, isn't she. She's
entering a predominantly male, male dominated job and groundkeeping and curating,
and she's grasped the chance that she was given in Bristol,
and she's obviously loves it, and she learns quickly, you know,
that's that's great, and she's clearly liking it.
Speaker 4 (44:28):
She interested in the whole process.
Speaker 6 (44:30):
She was working on the outfield when she dropped her
little rake and that sort of thing, and out she
came to have a chat and you know, I just thought,
you know, she she headed up actually and all female
ground stuff for one of the women's ashes then when
they were playing at Edgeburston, which is a nice touch,
(44:51):
isn't it all an all women ground star preparing the
ground and the surface that all the women are going
to be playing on. And look, as you say, the
main thing as far as the three of us are concerned,
she's going to get all this fantastic knowledge and she's
because she she loves going away and doing sort of
(45:11):
as she mentioned, football games, football match day games.
Speaker 4 (45:15):
As well, so she's getting a wide.
Speaker 6 (45:17):
Amount of experience and she's interested in bringing it all
home at some stage, which is great.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
Yeah, I hope she can do that. And it's not
like the days when we used to prepare pitchers moose.
You know, give it a bit bit of water and
roll it out and the where you go and that's
your cricket pitcher.
Speaker 5 (45:37):
No, no, I I I it's it's whether whether it's
the woman or young man. I just applaud the the
the attitude, the just go and grab it sort of view.
And uh and well well done that person. That's all
I can say. I did a bit of a read
(45:58):
about it, and I think, well, what a positive, positive
human being that is. And and she's a credit to
this country and to break down the barriers that the
Lord should not be underestimated just by the bye albeit
twenty twenty five, but that's this is this is this
is this is important. This is really good and I
(46:20):
think bloody wonderful thrill.
Speaker 3 (46:22):
Yeah, they don't take just anybody at the home of cricket,
you know, you have to be special. And the science
involved in cricket preparation, boy, that's way beyond me. I
didn't pass chemistry, biology or animal husbandry or any of
those sorts of subjects. Yeah, English, Yeah. Anyway, we've got
(46:47):
two test matches and it's going to be difficult to
spend all night awake again. I'll be listening out for
Jerry's commentary. But you can't pick it up here unfortunately,
although you can you can pick it up on YouTube
or something.
Speaker 5 (47:03):
Jerry can't you pick it up on YouTube YouTube, talk
Sport YouTube, and you can get Jerry live and you
can message there. And I didn't message him to say
I rather loved his his his purple or whatever was lanyard,
and he didn't pick up that I'd done that. But
you can get you can get Jerry. You can watch
(47:24):
him on He's sleeping talk Sport.
Speaker 3 (47:28):
Yeah there, Jerry. So well, hopefully we'll be able to
get you some some text messages or whatever they call it,
and you'll be able to acknowledge them for your widening
band of followers in this part of the world.
Speaker 4 (47:41):
Oh mate, it's great, it's great.
Speaker 6 (47:43):
Actually, I love that they it only comes in on one,
one little computer, so I don't get to see that,
so I don't see any of the texts. I'm not accustomed,
I've got to say, of having a camera rammed up
your nose as you pick it and it's it says
you know how you forget and you just absent mindedly
(48:06):
do something, or whether you've got some thing in your teeth. Yeah,
well uh and so look, it's yeah, I'm looking forward
to doing the last test. As Moose said, could be
a beauty. We'll wait and see that. We always live
and hope for those. But I'm looking forward to going
down to London south of South of the River and
(48:31):
let's hope for a good match.
Speaker 5 (48:35):
Is that when when Jerry you've got to you've got
to change your outfits. You've got to look a bit
like a village idiot to rest of them.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
Put on a bearret.
Speaker 4 (48:47):
Oh yeah, I could do that for you guys.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
We'll be looking out for it all right, guys.
Speaker 4 (48:56):
One, Yeah, you've got one.
Speaker 9 (48:58):
I know you've got one.
Speaker 3 (48:59):
We brought our bring it.
Speaker 4 (49:01):
With me wads.
Speaker 3 (49:02):
Yeah, okay, thank you god.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
Guys. Yeah, we'll choose mate.
Speaker 4 (49:10):
All the world the qualities. That's smarting.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
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