South Asian Focus have a fascinating interview with Tony Hemming, head curator at the ICC Cricket Global Academy in Dubai who recently visited Toronto. Hemmings is quoted on a variety of subjects including
The purpose of his visit:- “The reason for my visit is to educate curators in Toronto. In fact Melvin John has a relationship through the ICC Global Cricket Academy’s Rodney Marsh and Mudassir Nazar and through those connections, as we also do curator courses, I was asked to come here and give some training on the wicket and field preparation. Here we got municipalities (Brampton, Toronto and Markham) together and talked about it.”
Canada’s climate: – “It’s a bit of a learning process, but I have worked in cool climates and I know how grass can be managed in frosting conditions. We also came up with new ideas for the future of cricket in Toronto.”
Resting pitches:- “You need to make sure that you are protecting the first class cricket. A good pitch needs six weeks to recover after a match. And, if you have only five pitches then you have to have a rotation program to maintain them.”