New Delhi, May 10 : Since the start of this millennium, innovation has been gaining currency in cricket ' be it be via zing bails, spider cam, cricket bat sensor or hawk eye technology. In terms of pitches, a vital factor in teams deciding how they go about the game, there has been the addition of drop-in wickets.

But the addition of hybrid pitches into the cricketing ecosystem in England in 2017 grabbed the attention of many onlookers. SISGrass, a UK-based synthetic turf manufacturing company, which specialises in hybrid pitches not just in cricket, but also in football, rugby and hockey, have now brought this first-of-its-kind innovation to India.

In partnership with the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), SISGrass' Universal Machine has installed two hybrid pitches each on the main square and practice area of the picturesque venue. In an in-depth conversation with IANS, Paul Taylor, the former England men's cricketer, currently serving as International Sales Director, Cricket at SISGrass, spoke on what separates the hybrid pitch from a regular cricket surface.

'There are actually three different types of pitches. There is a pitch that lays a concrete base. There's then a profile of soil with an artificial carpet that's installed, and there's no natural grass in it. They call it a hybrid cricket surface because you can play cricket on it. There is another one which is what we call a carpeted hybrid, where you take the top sort of 60 millimetres of soil out.'

'You lay a carpet that's got a 60-millimetre-long pile. You put the soil and seed back in, grow seed in that top surface, and then play on it in terms of cricket. That's also a hybrid cricket surface. The one that we do is using the existing pitch. So we don't dig out anything. We just inject artificial fibers into the natural surface.'

'It's stitched at 20 millimetre by 20 millimetre matrix across the whole width and length of the pitch. We also extend beyond the stump line, so that where the bowlers land with their back foot before they bowl is also a hybrid surface because it's a high wear area.'

Taylor was glowing in explaining the benefits of hybrid cricket pitches, a term which he admits can be quite confusing at times. 'One of the benefits of this system is it protects high wear areas quite nicely. We stitch to a depth of 90 millimetres with a six-ply polyethylene fibre.'

'That can be different colours depending on the surface of the colour of the pitches normally. We can have green, beige and a mixture of both. So there's a lot of flexibility in the type of colour that we can inject into the surface. The key thing is it's still 95% natural turf; that is the key criteria to this. So the performance of the pitch should and will not change.'

'It will still seam and spin, and what it gives you is longevity. So you can play on a pitch for up to three times longer. The other thing it helps, is strengthen the grass around the fibers, but it's never exposed above the height of the grass.'

'We always cut the fibers off at least one millimetre below the minimum cutting height for a pitch where we install. In the UK, they cut the pitches at six or seven mm, so we installed at five. Over here at Dharamshala, the pitches are cut at five, so we've installed at four. So that's the difference.'

With 95% of the hybrid pitch being natural, the five percent fibre will keep the wear and tear in check; and plays a key role of recovery of grass after a match is over. 'The fibre is like when you put some reinforcement into concrete. So you put rebar into concrete, which gives it strength. This is effectively a similar principle. So what we're doing is giving strength to profile of the soil. The fibre always stays exposed at the top and it protects the grass plant.'

'So basically after the match is finished, when you water it, the grass recovery is a lot quicker because around the fibre, there is a natural airspace. So the water that when you put it on, it goes straight down the fibre into the roots of the plant as do any nutrients that you want to put onto the cricket square.'

'So they get into the root zone a lot quicker than what ordinarily it would if it just sat on the surface and gradually seeped its way through. So that's another benefit, which is why the grass recovery on a hybrid pitch is a lot quicker than a natural pitch.'

'It means you can reuse them time and time again as you go forward. But you can prepare one pitch and as long as you rightly maintain it, you can play on it up to three times longer than what you would ordinarily.'

India is a country which has different weather patterns in various places, especially with cricket being played throughout the year. How the hybrid pitches would behave in different places, depending on the weather conditions, is a thing to be taken note of.

'It's interesting because we spend two-three days when we arrive assessing the conditions. That's on every job - we've had more experience in the UK and are doing more and more installations overseas. But every job is always going to be slightly different, whether it's at home or overseas. So we all spend two or three days to assess the conditions.'

'There's massively diverse conditions in north of the country, as compared to south of the country. So we spend that time assessing the soil content, more so the clay content, because we need moisture in the surface to be able to inject the fibers into it. We can't inject into a hard surface; it has to be a soft surface.'

'The challenge we found here, there was very high clay content. So we needed more moisture in the surface than what we would ordinarily say in a surface back home. Normally in the UK, we need about 40% moisture content. Over here, after two or three days of research, we needed between 60 to 80% moisture content to be able to stitch effectively.'

'So there's always a little bit of fact-finding taking place. Every venue we go to, whether it's India or anywhere else in the world, we do the same sort of research before we start stitching,' elaborated Taylor.

He informed the grounds team at the HPCA Stadium will be educated by its partner company Greater Ten about right ways of maintaining hybrid pitches. 'It is needed to just make sure that the maintenance is kept up. They still need to be maintained in the same way as it is done for a grass pitch.'

'The plan is to educate the ground staff and make sure that they do it properly. It's not massively different from what you'd ordinarily do in any case. But the key is to make sure the fibres are continued to be exposed above the surface and not buried, which can happen when renovations take place and aren't overseen and washed properly.'

Other note-worthy aspect about the hybrid pitch installation at Dharamshala is the venue fitting in SISAir, a drainage and aeration system specifically used to improve outfield conditions and can dry the ground in 15 minutes. 'It's a root protection system really and what it enables to do is, you can either extract water out of the surface where the system is installed, or you can blow air through it, which gives the roots a lot of aeration.'

'So it's again about enhancing the strength of the grass that's installed in the outfield here. In the outfield, the grass assists in its growth and recovery. What the system does is, it controls the temperature of the soil. In hot summer months, blowing air through the profile of the soil will help keep the roots open and cool. So again, it can protect the grass plant.'

'Similarly, if you have heavy rain, you can take that water out of the surface very, very quickly. There was a football match a few years ago in the Champions League. Manchester United were playing Galatasaray away from home and there was literally seven-eight days of torrential monsoon rain at the ground, resulting in surface water.'

'We've got a case study video on our website about it. The guy is bouncing the ball and he literally bounces, there's a massive splash and he bounces and it stops. So there's no bounce at all because there was so much water in the surface.'

'The system was turned on to get rid of the water and within 24 hours, the game was played. So that was a massively high profile match that was saved because of the SISAir system. Similarly, the rainfall in Dharamshala is quite heavy at times and it will have exactly the same effect here when needed.'

As of now, ICC has approved using hybrid surfaces in white-ball cricket, but is yet to give a green signal for it in red-ball cricket. But hybrid pitches has been given the usage approval by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for the ongoing 2024 county championship season on a trial basis.

Taylor, who worked at The Oval for 15 years as director of cricket development, now aims to expand the reach of hybrid pitches to other cricket-loving cities in India. 'We're installing a number of projects that are ECB-funded in communities, which is something that we'd like to do over here with the support of the BCCI if we can as we move forward.'

'We are trying to get these sorts of surfaces into grassroots cricket so that the kids are playing on quality services at a young age and will help bring more people into the game. We should ultimately bring more players at an international level of greater quality. So more heroes and role models, potentially.'

'We were due to start installing in Ahmedabad, but because of timing and matches, it didn't quite work out. Dharamshala was available after the England-India Test match in March. We got three projects lined up in India - Dharamshala, Ahmedabad, and a potential couple in Mumbai. But because of match scheduling and windows of opportunity to install, Dharamshala was the one selected, and we're very pleased we did.'

'India is obviously the biggest cricket team market in the world, and one that we want to be part of to help promote the game and increase the number of people playing it. I've no doubt that the program will grow across the country, and we're looking forward to the expansion of the program.'

An HPCA official told IANS they got the hybrid pitch installation idea during the laying of the outfield six months ago. 'The main thought was to get in latest technology which are evolving in cricketing world to Dharamshala. It will also give exposure to youngsters here ' both batters and bowlers - for adapting to playing as per the hybrid pitch technology, which is the future of the game in HPCA's opinion.'

The official also said Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings teams had practised on the hybrid pitches ahead of their clash on Sunday afternoon. 'They were quite happy in practising on them. The wear and tear was less on hybrid pitch; their usage and behaviour has been quite smooth and consistent.'

/IANS