Worcestershire CCC head groundsman Tim Packwood gives members and supporters an update on conditions at New Road after the opening three days of the Specsavers County Championship match with Kent were washed out.
Umpires Richard Illingworth and Ian Gould called off play for today (Tuesday) after a 12.30pm inspection.
Question: Can you give us an update on the state of the ground?
Tim Packwood: "About eight millimetres of rain fell yesterday and it is basically just topping up the water table which is already very high and the water is just sitting around on the outfield now and hasn't really got anywhere to drain away to."
Question: Is the current situation a result of the double winter flood or the rain of the last four days?
Tim Packwood: "It is a bit of both but the ground was playable on Friday. If anything, the rain on Saturday afternoon was a lot heavier than anticipated.
"That has probably topped it up to the levels where it was touch and go Monday as to whether the players would get on.
"But there were just areas of the ground where the best way to describe it was that it had turned to like a jelly-blancmange so when you put your foot down, it wasn't actually wet (on the surface) but the ground was starting to move because of the height of the water table."
Question: It must be soul-destroying after putting so much work in after the floods to get the ground ready to play?
Tim Packwood: "It is. You aim to start on the first day. The sun is shining the first morning but the damage has been done by the rain that had fallen.
"We've been doing 12-13 hour shifts for the past week and to so far not bowl a ball is depressing."
Question: However many covers you put out, you can't do anything if it continually rains?
Tim Packwood: "You can cover as much up as you can and even when you put sheets down, water will find its own level.
"What tends to then happen is it runs off the sheets and back underneath and you can sometimes end up with worse puddles than if you have left sheets off at time.
"Until you actually get two dry days back to back, which we've not had for about a fortnight, nothing is really going to start to dry out."
