Performance of geotextile roofing felts and natural grass roots in a cricket pitch

The bounce and penetrometer resistance of a cricket pitch for three different crack-control conditions was investigated. Fifteen miniature cricket pitches were prepared using the conventional procedure, natural grassroots, and geotextile roofing felts combined with varying fine sand and bentonite clay proportions. The rebound ball height and ground penetrometer resistances were measured with a designed bounce meter and pocket penetrometer respectively. In addition, properties of the pitch soils such as crack width, moisture content and field densities were measured. The results of the test programme indicated that the pitch with the geotextile crack-control system provided a higher coefficient of restitution and penetrometer resistance than the other two systems. Furthermore, the test results suggested that the clay content should be kept between 50% to 65 % under a geotextile roofing felt to reduce significant growth of crack widths for a good cricket pitch. Finally, several correlation equations are proposed relating the restitution coefficient and penetrometer resistance with the index and physical properties of pitch soil for use in pitch characterisation.