Latest news with #pitch
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Spencer Steer's game-tying hit by pitch
Spencer Steer is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Matt McLain to tie the game at 2 in the top of the 8th inning
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pitch improvements underway at the Nigel Eady County Ground
Preparations are underway at the Nigel Eady County Ground to get the pitch ready for the start of Swindon Town's season. In April, it was confirmed that Swindon would be going ahead with Head Groundsman Matt Povey's proposal to stitch the pitch this summer, to create a more durable and quicker surface, preventing the difficulties of the past few seasons with the field struggling to cope with the number of games and poor weather. The work is costing an additional £160,000 on top of regular maintenance costs, but it is seen by Ian Holloway and Povey as a necessary price to pay for helping the players. Read more: Holloway's 'brutally honest' assessment of where Town are with learning style 'Someone always comes out of the pack' - Two players surprising Holloway Ripley's absence from Melksham friendly explained The Adver was allowed access this week to see the pitch stitching in progress to get an idea of how the work was going. SIS Pitches are undertaking the work, which was delayed from the initially expected start date of July 1 due to their renovations of multiple pitches at Chelsea's Cobham training ground, a delay which meant Povey has been forced to postpone his honeymoon. After their work at Swindon is completed, which is anticipated by the end of the week, they will move on to Wycombe Wanderers, Millwall, and Wrexham before the start of the season, and they also have projects on in Mexico and Czechia, before heading to the United States ahead of next summer's World Cup. The stitching is now underway with four specialist machines, two of which have 40 pins and two larger ones having almost double that, taking to the pitch at the County Ground to apply the plastic fibres. The process works by the machines using the sharp pins to insert the plastic fibres into the ground, allowing the grass to grow around them, leaving a consistent layer underneath the grass to reduce the degradation. Each machine goes up and down the field, with it taking between two and three hours to go from one end to the other. The team operating the machines will work in shifts, 24 hours a day, to get it all completed in time. Once the pitch is stitched this summer, it will keep the turf in excellent condition for at least five years before the process would need to be done again. The work began Tuesday afternoon, and it is expected to be completed by the end of the week, before it takes around a week to two weeks to properly bed in, leaving it to be in perfect condition by the time Swindon host Cambridge United on August 9.
CBC
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
'Home' of baseball's slider pitch honours its history
Ridgetown, Ont., lays claim to the slider and is honouring that history with a sculpture. A slider is a type of pitch used by baseball pitchers to try and fool the batter by putting a tight spin on a fastball. CBC's Mike Evans took a spin out to the town to see the sculpture and hear some of the history.
Telegraph
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Live England vs India: Latest updates from Lord's with Stokes ‘fine' during practice
Greetings from Lord's, although you might think it is Ahmedabad to judge by the temperature and the pitch, which is playing into the hands of India's two spinners. There are always some cricket phrases in vogue. 'He'll take that' for example. When have you ever seen a batsman, after nicking a boundary, running over to the scorer and saying 'please don't add that four to my score' ? Or when this same batsman – say it is a tailender batting against Jimmy Anderson – edges another four, and as steam comes out of Anderson's ears the commentator cheerily announces: 'He won't mind that!' Now we are blessed with the phrase 'It's moving day', usually applied to day three. Well, day one was a non-moving day in that neither side was ahead at the end of it any more than at the start. England restrained themselves, and the slow dry turf restrained them, in addition to India's patient bowlers. It was too hot to move, you might say, and it might be the same today… but eventually something will crack.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Joe Root unbeaten on 99 as England dig in against India but Stokes injury a concern
England opted not to train on Tuesday but Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum still made a beeline for Lord's. Two days out from the third Test – a pivotal match with the series locked at one-apiece – they were keen to speak to the groundstaff to express their hopes for a pitch with pace, bounce and a bit of sideways movement. It was too late to be making demands and, like the disappointed customers of Mr Tourette, signwriter extraordinaire from the Modern Toss cartoons, England's captain and head coach had to settle for a slow, occasionally two-paced surface. Throw in a sluggish outfield — plus an Indian attack buoyed by their win at Edgbaston and now augmented by Jasprit Bumrah — and run-scoring was anything but straightforward. The upshot was a slow, hard-fought opening day in which England were once again grateful to the enduring class of Joe Root to give them a foothold in the contest. Arriving at 43 for two in the morning, and walking off unbeaten on 99 from 191 balls at the close, Root had steered the hosts to 251 for four from 83 overs. Ollie Pope's 44 and 39 not out from Stokes provided the support for the master here. Neither Stokes or the crowd knew it would be such a grind when the coin went up and his decision to bat first was met with a cheer. Fresh out of the clammy underground, and instantly hit by the heatwave that has made pitch preparation so tricky this summer, folks were expecting a day of Bazball in full flow, with balls racing to the boundary and the scoreboard ticking over like the wheels of a fruit machine. But there were early signs it might be a tough one out there in a morning that saw England chisel their way to 83 for two by lunch: Bumrah's fourth ball of the day had scuttled along the ground after passing the bat, while the slips appeared unsure how close to stand. Not that this was much of a surprise to anyone who witnessed the World Test Championship final between South Africa and Australia last month. The source of the first two wickets to fall was, however. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had just about kept India's frontliners at bay to stick on 43 runs by the first drinks break, only to find themselves battling a brief period of lavish swing after the ball lost its lacquer. But then Shubman Gill threw it to his fourth seamer, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and watched the allrounder wipe out both openers in his very first over. For Duckett there was cause to chunter something that rhymed with his surname after he went to pull a leg-side long hop and gloved behind on 23. In the case of Crawley, 18, it was a more auspicious delivery as Reddy located a good length and some late swing found the edge. Not that Crawley had been particularly convincing up to this point, given some of the charging swipes that met fresh air. In between there was the latest skittish start for Pope: a life first ball when he drove hard at Reddy and Gill grassed a tough chance at gully. Pope edged the first three deliveries he faced, in fact, before his heart rate dropped to match that of Root and the pair set about a stand of 109 runs in 35 overs and a wicketless afternoon. Burying their egos, the pair had built a promising platform and driven the feisty Mohammed Siraj potty to the point of asking Root for some Bazball. India were also forced into a change behind the stumps during this session, Dhruv Jurel coming on as a substitute for Rishabh Pant after a ball down leg from Bumrah injured his finger. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion But off the first ball of the evening session came a twist and a smart catch by Jurel. There had been a bit of turn for Ravindra Jadeja during one exploratory over before tea but not enough to advise caution, Pope feathering an ambitious drive behind and falling to his knees in disbelief. Having personally overcome a probing spell from Bumrah – Root wisely stayed at the other end – the reaction was understandable. With England 153 for three in the 50th over, Gill immediately whistled to Bumrah to come on and in a four-over burst the world's No 1 fast bowler delivered for his captain. It took out the world's No 1 batter in the process, with Harry Brook's first innings back at the top of the tree ended on 11 by a ball that nipped in and rattled off-stump. Root, the man Brook usurped, ploughed on though and with Stokes for company, saw out the day. Not that it was straightforward or without incident, Stokes surviving a reviewed lbw on 27 via umpire's call and seemingly injuring his groin while leaving a ball outside off stump. The knock-on effect for his bowling and thus England's attack is a worry, not least with fingers already crossed over Jofra Archer's return.
