27/07/2026
A quick note about pitch watering during the hosepipe ban 💧
We are aware that some people may wonder why they're seeing a hosepipe being used occasionally at our cricket grounds during the current Anglian Water hosepipe ban. We completely understand those concerns, and we'd like to explain.
As a club, we predominantly rely on rain for watering — the playing pitches, cricket squares and outfields. We never water our outfields, and normally only resort to watering the squares when the grass is under stress, never for appearance's sake.
We're very conscious that water is in short supply right now, and with the current Temporary Use Ban ("hosepipe ban") in place we've cut our watering back to the bare minimum needed to keep games safe.
The ban allows sports clubs to use a hose to water pitches in use or under preparation on health and safety grounds. If we let our wickets get too dry, they crack and become dangerous — risking uneven bounce and injury from a hard ball.
We're doing our best to minimise water use by targeting a fine irrigator only at the pitches we're due to play on, rather than a sprinkler across the whole square, and watering well but infrequently (better for grass roots) rather than little and often.
Everything else — the squares, the outfields & boundaries are rightly being left to go brown and take their chances with the weather, like all our gardens right now.
As a community club, we take our responsibilities seriously and are always happy to talk through any concerns.
