A survey of 45 clubs in the Sustainable Cricket
Project showed that:
1. Clubs do not know how
much water they use (because it is historically cheap and
convenient).
2. 84% of clubs use
mains water for irrigation
3. Where data were available
typical annual consumption for irrigation was:
- Small club (1-2 adult XIs, limited junior
section): 5-10 m3/y
- Medium club (2-3 adult XIs, junior section):
50-150 m3/y
- Premier league club (4-5 adult XIs, 2 grounds,
large junior section): 200-300 m3/y
4. Only 10 facilities in
the country irrigate outfields – for the majority of clubs this is
an issue of watering squares.
- A typical 12 pitch cricket square is 12 x 3 m x
25 m = 900 m2 in area (0.09 ha)
- A typical pitch is only 3 m x 25 m = 75 m2 in
area. Therefore irrigation requirements are small relative to other
sports including golf, football and bowls.
5. For a typical 20 minute
watering during pitch preparation – clubs will use 500-800 L
(0.5-0.8 m3)