SIS Pitches uses hybrid grass technology to transform cricket

SIS Pitches has installed hybrid cricket pitches at County Cricket Clubs across the United Kingdom ahead of the 2019 cricket season.

Developed exclusively by SIS Pitches, the surface installation technology, SISGrass Universal, comes as new research reveals it could have significant benefits for players and clubs.

SISGrass Universal, a compact and 100 per cent electric machine with patented fibre injection technology, combines speed, mobility and laser precision to deliver high-quality hybrid turf surfaces.

The ECB became the first to install two trial wickets using SISGrass technology at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough and they have now approved hybrid pitches for use in the Royal London One Day Cup, Vitality Blast and all formats of second XI cricket for the 2019 season.

The pitches combine natural turf grass with less than five per cent of uniquely engineered, soft polyethylene yarn, a system which has also been used to improve the quality of golf tees, goal areas, tennis courts and pitch surrounds.

The company says repair works after play have been reduced with a faster grass recovery time, while the surface remained more than 95 per cent natural turf, meaning it will still behave like a normal wicket.

One 10ft cricket pitch strip contains approximately 190,000 individual stitches of SISGrass fibre, made up of 46kg of yarn, totalling 38km, and can be installed in five hours using SISGrass Universal.

After installation, pitches are maintained for a minimum of eight weeks to allow the profile to settle and for all holes to close and anchor the SISGrass fibres.

Chris Wood, ECB’s Pitches Consultant, said: “The ECB is delighted with the incredibly positive results of these stitched, reinforced hybrid pitches to date and feedback from County Clubs has been most profound and encouraging.”

“This product has the potential to be a real gamechanger for the future of cricket, particularly in the lucrative, limited over, whiteball form of the game through increased usage and possible freeing up of central TV pitches, most importantly, without sacrificing quality over quantity.”

Phil Blackwell, SISGrass Director in the UK, added: “Some of the world’s biggest professional rugby and football teams have already seen significant benefits from the introduction of our hybrid pitch technology, and SISGrass Universal has the potential to transform the maintenance and durability of cricket pitches.”

“We’re excited to see the impact it’s already having in the UK and anticipate demand from cricket clubs around the world.”

Hybrid cricket pitches have now been installed at Surrey, Lord’s, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Glamorgan, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Durham, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and at Loughborough University.