Wicket state has teams up in arms

Wairarapa senior men's rep cricket team are not alone in criticising the sub-standard playing conditions in Levin.
They were livid after inadequate covers turned their Hawke Cup qualifying match drawn match with Horowhenua at Weraroa Domain into a lottery, angry enough, in fact, to officially protest the result of the game.
It was the second week in a row a sodden, sub-standard pitch had been provided in Levin with the earlier game also being a Hawke Cup fixture between Taranaki and Horowhenua-Kapiti.It too ended in a draw.
According to a report in Monday's Horowhenua-Kapiti Chronicle, fingers are being pointed directly at the Horowhenua District Council which owns the domain and which has apparently downgraded preparation of the wicket there.
The Horowhenua-Kapiti Cricket Association was sent a letter from the ground custodian at the beginning of this season saying the council was scaling back the preparation and servicing of the ground.
The Chronicle report quoted current Horowhenua-Kapiti coach Royden Trask as saying that required winter maintenance of the pitch was also not carried out in the off-season, resulting in problems at the northern end of the pitch in particular. The concave area was not harbouring water rather than letting it drain away.
"The association got a letter at the start of the season informing us that they were not going to spend as much time rolling the pitch due to financial constraints," Trask said. "The problem is the wicket needs levelling, top dressing and fixing the dips and hollows".
The report said the current situation had left both Wairarapa and Taranaki never wanting to return to Weraroa.
"Weraroa is the obvious place for cricket, but if the grounds aren't up to standard we are going to have to find somewhere else to go," Trask said. "We have to take abuse from the opposition. The council needs to take responsibility for their ground and their sports people. Higher level sports are not getting a fair go."