The Mechanical Behaviour of Cricket Soils During Preparation by Rolling

Abstract

The nature of the ball — surface interaction in cricket has been identified as critical to the quality and safety of the sport. The requirement for even ball bounce and good pace from a clay loam soil cricket pitch has been successfully characterized and has been observed to be related to soil properties such as dry bulk density, moisture content and organic carbon content. To achieve the required mechanical properties, practitioners manage the compaction of a cricket pitch through the use of smooth steel-wheeled rollers. The relationship between moisture content and the compaction and shear strength was determined for a typical clay loam soil and was found to be significant. The effect of subsequent passes of 4.75 and 5.71 kN on soil dry bulk density was also determined in the soil dynamics laboratory. Maximum dry bulk density was achieved after 20 and 10 passes of each roller, respectively. The roller did not have a significant effect on dry bulk density below 50 mm in the profile.