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Sheddocksley
meets all the criteria of a notorious
wicket. It's hostile environment is
obvious from this picture of a local
resident. |
Cricket
was meant to be played on hard flat and grassless
surfaces but in Grades
cricket, this is a
pipedream. Most games played in the North east of
Scotland take place on cut grass, usually soft,
but despite this, many of the wickets are fair and
playable (if a little slow). However, there are
many wickets in the region (and several more that
no longer exist) that can lay claim to notoriety .
A
"notorious" wicket has to meet one (or
more) of five criteria:
-
the
low bouncer
-
the
erratic bouncer
-
the
poorly prepared
-
the
environmentally hostile
-
the
expensive.
Examples
The
low bouncer
Ellon
Gordon's wicket at Gordon Park is a consistently
low bouncer due to the plasticine surface. This
"consistency", however, makes it no less difficult
to bat on and lbw appeals are frequent. What
confounds observers is it's appearance
which, for all intents and purposes, gives it the
impression that it's a
good quality patch. But the top surface of the
wicket is never truly hard. Another aspect of the Gordon
Park's notoriety is that it is nearly always
still being prepared minutes before the game.
Artificial
wickets haven't taken root, as it were, and
there are several examples of bad ones still
in use. Grammar FPs Rubislaw wicket is
primarily a low bouncer but can at times be
an erratic one too.
The
erratic bouncer
Crathies
wicket in the grounds of Balmoral Castle,
was, for many years thought of as an erratic
bouncer with many recorded instances of
deliveries flying high over batsman's heads.
Recently however, the true cause of this has
been put down to the wicket being too
short! Turriff C.C.s wicket is also known as
an erratic bouncer.
The
poorly prepared
Sheddocksley
can lay claim to being notorious under all five
classifications, poorly prepared being the
most obvious of them. It
may even be haunted! Woodside, which is no
longer in use, was actually a very well
prepared wicket, let down by the mounds of
cut grass left on the outfield. The Links
looks like a poorly prepared wicket but
plays as well as any in the region.
The
environmentally hostile.
The
Links, on it's day, is a hostile place to
play. A constant all year round wind makes
it cold. There are no changing facilities as
such. Toilets too are non existent although
the open "Pishy Pavillion" appears
to double as one for it's occasional
"residents". During the football
season, there is the inevitable stream of
verbal abuse, from football supporters, to
contend with too.
The
expensive
Harlaw
is a nice place to play at in many respects
but for the home side it is an expensive
luxury as it charges by the hour rather than
a one off fixed fee. Only Queens Cross seem
able to afford to base themselves there.
Another expensive place to play (but for a
different reason) is at Allan Park, the
compact home of Cults
C.C.. The small
boundaries, fenced off from local residents
gardens and a golf course, mean a lot of
lost balls.
Extinct
notorious wickets
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