Grounds Team Win Maiden ECB Top Honour

Leicestershire CCC Head Groundsman Andy Ward and his team have been recognised with the top honour at the 2022 Grounds Manager of the Year Awards.

Ward was selected as joint winner in an unprecedented five-way tie for the coveted Bernard Flack Memorial Trophy, alongside the lead groundsman at Edgbaston, The Kia Oval, Spitfire St Lawrence, Canterbury, and Lord’s.

The award is decided by collating the pitch ratings from Match Referees for multi-day cricket over the course of the season - underlining the unlikely prospect of a five-way tie - and has only been shared once before in its 50-year history.

After finishing as runners-up to Yorkshire CCC in 2019, this year’s presentation saw Leicestershire win the highest honour for four-day pitches for the first time, with Ward having previously scooped ECB awards for best preparation of one-day pitches in 2013 and 2017.

2022 represented one of the busiest summers in recent memory for the ground staff at Uptonsteel County Ground. Women’s T20 Finals Day, the inaugural Connecting Communities game, along with the high-profile visits of India, England Under 19s and England Women all added to a relentless preparation schedule for the team.

That work was fronted by Head Groundsman, and the Club’s longest serving member of staff, Andy Ward, who has been an integral part of the setup at Grace Road for 38 years.

Discussing the award, Ward said: “I was surprised but delighted to win alongside such illustrious grounds.

“It’s a reflection of the hard work and dedication shown from the whole team at Uptonsteel County Ground. This is a fantastic achievement for the Club and I’m immensely proud.”

As well as preparing wickets and nets for training and matchdays, the team lent their knowledge to ground staff from local cricket clubs with a masterclass during the Royal London Cup fixture with Durham in August, before facilitating the filming of a Bollywood movie on the Grace Road square in October.

With winter now upon us, the team are hard at work to keep Uptonsteel County Ground looking as picturesque as ever. Congratulations again to Andy Ward, and his team; Simon Brown, Mark Smith, Callum Lewin, Callum French, and Dan Wilkinson.

Photo (From left to right: Callum Lewin, Mark Smith, Joe Hack, Andy Ward (Head Groundsman), Callum French, Simon Brown (Deputy Head Groundsman).