Case studies

Bradford Park Avenue cricket practice nets facility

Part of a £5.5 million pound project to bring the ground back to its former glory, the synthetic cricket net installation is the result of a partnership between Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (CBMDC). Works are being rolled out in five phases up until 2019 and include, alongside the new practice facility, a £2.5 million pavilion with county cricket standard changing rooms; a 250-capacity restaurant; an additional 5,000 new stadium seats and ECB standard floodlights.

Work on the artificial cricket practice nets started in September 2016, following a tender process that saw several ECB approved non-turf cricket pitch suppliers vie for the contract. total-play was successful, with its flagship tp365 system design impressing on visits to existing client sites. At initial site visit, potential drainage issues were identified on the proposed site, which was previously in use as a football pitch. To combat this, the proposal included the removal of the entire existing profile – some 400-500ml of a sandy loam and old clay pipes – and the laying of a 450ml gravel raft as a base for the new nets.

With these initial works completed by the contractors working on the adjacent changing rooms, total-play’s in house team commenced work on the system itself. Built to the ECB approved tp365 design, the specification of the new, fully enclosed 8 lane facility offered a number of bespoke elements; including HD Protection Tunnel netting with anti-vermin skirt, black powder coated steel framework, Wilton woven carpet in two tone blue-green colourway and white stump lines to aid coaching. Paul Rowbotham, Project Manager at YCCC, says:

“YCCC are very grateful for the funding provided by the ECB, Sport England and CBMDC to help deliver this brilliant project. There was a fantastic spirit of partnership between all the parties involved that guided it to a successful conclusion.  YCCC are very thankful for all the hard work put in by total-play Ltd, ECB and CBMDC which now allows us to provide and operate a state of the art, community outdoor net facility. This will be available for the benefit of the local cricket clubs, local junior representative age groups, local and national cricket participation schemes (particularly primary school age groups), local schools and local higher education establishments.”