IANS Exclusive: Ex England Cricketer Paul Taylor explained the ‘soil profile of a hybrid pitch’

In an Exclusive Interview with IANS, Former England Test cricketer Paul Taylor showed the diagram shows the soil profile of a hybrid pitch and said, “At ground level, thin fibers are visible, but most stitching is buried 90 mm deep. We use beige or green yarns, with beige preferred for stadiums in India to blend in with the pitch's appearance. The roots grow around the fibers, anchoring them and promoting deeper growth for healthier grass. The fibers create natural air spaces, allowing water and nutrients to reach the roots more easily, improving grass coverage. When the pitch is installed, the fibers are cut slightly below the surface level of the grass, ensuring the ball interacts with the grass first, maintaining the pitch's natural playing characteristics.”

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Transcript

00:00Yeah, so pitch technology has evolved massively as well as the playing side and coaching side of the game.

00:06So, you know, there are different types of surfaces that you can play cricket on.

00:10SysPitches has put a guide together to clarify the situation on all of those.

00:16One of the biggest confusions is around hybrid pitches and drop-in pitches.

00:21So basically a drop-in pitch is a fully natural surface

00:26that's built in sort of movable trays that are lifted in and out of a cricket ground or a sports stadium,

00:33mainly used for multi-sports.

00:36So if you've got different sports being played on different surfaces, then different pitches are lifted in and out.

00:41But it's still a fully natural pitch with natural grass.

00:45There is no artificial fibres in those pitches.

00:49A hybrid pitch is one where these artificial fibres are injected into the natural turf surface

00:57and effectively gives the profile of the soil and the grass strength and stability.

01:03And that enables more play to take place.

01:07The pitch lasts longer. The pace and bounce will increase over time.

01:12And effectively you can play up to three times the amount of cricket on the same pitch

01:17than ordinarily you would.

01:19So for example, if you would ordinarily play five T20 games on one pitch

01:24with a stitched hybrid SysGrass pitch,

01:27you could play up to 15 games on the same pitch

01:32with minimal renovation work taking place in between.

01:35So it's a benefit for the curators because they can spend time,

01:40rather than preparing three pitches for those 15 games,

01:43they only have to prepare one pitch for those 15 games.

01:47So there's lots of advantages of a hybrid surface.

01:51The prime one is that it's still 95% a natural turf pitch.

01:56So the playing characteristics fundamentally don't change.

02:00So the curator still has control over how he prepares the pitch.

02:05So he controls the amount of water.

02:07He controls the amount of rolling that takes place on it.

02:12He can control the amount of grass he leaves on it before play starts.

02:17So those characteristics can still be controlled.

02:21What it allows him to do though is less preparation time

02:25and less renovation work after the game before it's ready to play again.

IANS Exclusive: Ex England Cricketer Paul Taylor explained the ‘soil profile of a hybrid pitch’

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