Derbyshire turn pitches early

Derbyshire will play from north to south at the County Ground next season after deciding to rotate the square a year early

Derbyshire have decided to bring the 90 degree rotation of the County Ground’s square a year ahead of schedule, ready for next season.

Once turned, the pitches will run from north to south, alleviating the problem of the sun setting behind the bowlers’ arm.

The new pitches were not expected to be used until the summer of 2011. However, they have played well during recent practice sessions and Derbyshire now intend to play all cricket on the new pitches in 2010.

However, selection of the old pitches will be kept intact as a contingency plan should there be any unforeseen problem with the new surfaces when the season begins.

The decision means that the 2,000 seats, which are to be installed on the bank side of the ground ahead of the new season, will provide a prime view from behind the bowler’s arm.

The club’s electronic scoreboard and two floodlight pylons will be moved to accommodate the change of playing direction.

Chief executive Keith Loring said: “The decision for Derbyshire to play in an east/west direction was made prior to any thoughts of floodlit cricket coming into the equation and – with increasing amounts of floodlit cricket frequenting the calendar with each passing year – the turning of the playing square was the logical step to take.

“The pitches maturing quickly enough for us to switch direction as early as next season is a huge bonus, especially bearing in mind the recently announced development to our seating.

“Our head groundsman Neil Godrich has been confident about the early switch for some time and – having practised on them several times recently – our head of cricket John Morris shared his view that these surfaces are ready for first-class and List A cricket.”