WARM SEASON TURF

Arguably one of the most sensitive areas of turf wicket preparation.

The selection of the "right" type of turfgrass will often depend on the climatic conditions of the area.

For instance, it would be less than ideal to recommend that the Groundsman use Agrostis spp. (Bent) in an area such as Alice Springs, Wichita or the Kalahari, these being extremely warm areas of the world.

Indeed, Bent alone would not be suggested anywhere in the cricket playing world. In some parts of England and southern Australia it is used together with Festuca spp. And Lolium spp.

Under most Australian, Sth African, Indian, West Indian, Pakistanian conditions, which are generally temperate climates, the use of warm season turfgrasses is predominant. The most suited for turf wickets in warm climates is Cynodon spp. (Bermuda, Couch grass)

There are many varieties, cultivars and a few hybrids available to the Groundsman, but as a guide he / she should use the Cynodon species that grows well in their locality.

By example, it would be recommended to use a ‘local’ Couch, rather than import a hybrid or cultivar just because it successful somewhere else nearly 1000km away.

It is important for the Groundsman to understand the role of the turfgrass on the pitch.

Because the soils characteristically crack into blocks, an important function of the turfgrass plant is to provide an abundant root system, which adequately anchors the blocks together, as well as providing fibrous reinforcement within the blocks.

Cynodon spp. Are rhizomatous, hence there use in Australian clay wicket soils and under Australian climatic conditions. The preference for Cynodon spp. is based on other cultural requirements. They are more photosynthetically efficient than cool season grasses and will withstand close mowing (to 2mm), heavy rolling (to 2 tonnes), and considerable salt, heat and moisture stress.

The growth habit and retention of leaves with close mowing give rise to a higher leaf area index and cutting and, thus, to more efficient transpiration. As an example, on a good wicket the leaf area per unit ground area will be about one to two square centimetres before preparation, and 0.3 to 0.4 square centimetres at the start of play reducing to 0.05 square centimetres by the end of the match.

For the more technically minded reader a description of Cynodon spp. follows: -

Venation: folded; sheaths compressed, loose, sparsely pubescent with fasciled hairs at the throat, split with overlapping, hyaline margins;

Ligule: a fringe of white hairs, 1-3mm long, collar continuous, narrow to medium broad, glabrous, sparingly ciliate;

Auricle: absent

Blades; mostly flat, 1,5mm to 3mm wide, stiff, sparsely pubescent above, usually glabrous below, margins scabrous, tapering from the base to an acute apex;

Stems: compressed, erect or ascending from a prostrate base, with extensively creeping strong flat stolons and / or scaly, stout rhizomes that branch profusely and root at the nodes;

Inflorescence: four or five digitate spikes, spikelets sessile and closely apressed in two rows on a narrow, somewhat triangular rachis.

It is a cross pollination tetraploid with chromosome numbers of 30, 36 and 40.

This description applies to Common Couch (Bermuda grass) and will vary accordingly.

Some of the known cultivars are Greenless Park, Wintergreen, Albert Park, Milperra and other more local varieties. Of the hybrids, only Cynodon ‘Santa Ana’ has been evaluated to date for use in turf wicket preparation. Other being trialled include Cynodon x ‘Miduron 2’, Cynodon x ‘Tufcote’, Cynodon x ‘Texturf’, Cynodon x ‘Daniella’ and Cynodon x ‘Biran’.