Sport
29 January, 2024
Ross rolls out a top pitch
By CHRIS EARL THE turf pitch at Wedderburn’s Market Square has never looked better - that’s the word out of the local cricket club after knocking off Upper Loddon association powerhouse Kingower on Saturday. The praise from players started in...
By CHRIS EARL
THE turf pitch at Wedderburn’s Market Square has never looked better - that’s the word out of the local cricket club after knocking off Upper Loddon association powerhouse Kingower on Saturday.
The praise from players started in advance of Saturday’s match when they “pitched” the story of one bloke in particular devoting hours to the turf wicket and extending the field coverage.
Ross Hannah retired back to Wedderburn two years ago - his family has been in the district since the 1870s - and soon had the club knocking on his door.
He renown as a turf wicket curator had been established in the 1980s on the famous Queen Elizabeth Oval in Bendigo.
Ross had played his junior cricket with Wedderburn before heading south for the final years of secondary school, hooking up with the Bendigo club until heading to Melbourne where he worked with Border Force for 20 years.
“I didn’t play a lot of cricket in Bendigo because of back injury so I started rolling the wicket ... and swinging the bat in the C Grade side,” he said.
“We had a choice of wickets to roll out each week.”
He learnt the skill of rolling wickets from Terry Hunter and is now on the job at Market Square. Ross says it’s a partnership with club legend Bob Steel who, as usual, gives credit to others.
“I am always aiming for the pace of the ball off the wicket to have consistent bounce, the pace to be consistent,” Ross said. The proof, he says, comes when batsmen going for hook, pull and cut shots.
Ross says there’s a good 20 hours preparing the wicket every week. “Preparation this week was interrupted by the rain and I couldn’t roll out the turf until Thursday.
“Luckily, I made a start the previous week,” he said.
“If you are going to play cricket, play turf, do it properly and put in the hours.”
He’s firmly in the turf wicket camp - Wedderburn has the association’s only turf wicket. “The synthetic pitches can be a little bland.”
“They are more a batsman’s wicket and the bowling is more conservative in approach, not as aggressive.
“Here on the turf wicket you can get some good sharp bounce.”
Ross and Bob have also spent many hours before this season spraying the field.
“We’re gradually moving out with good cover in the infield,” he said. “The floods (over Christmas) have also helped green it up. We’ll keep extending the cover and then when players dive in the outfield, that won’t need skin repairs.”
And Ross said he had no hesitation answering that knock on the door two years ago.
“Most of these guys playing today, I went to school with their dads!”