Powerplay Pitch Saves the Day

A Notts Sport synthetic cricket pitch allowed a group of hardy players to play through a storm of biblical proportions to smash the world record for the longest continuous game of cricket.

Loughborough University Staff Cricket Club organised the event in aid of the Harley Staples Cancer Trust to build Harleys House, a respite care holiday home in Leicestershire for children and teenagers with cancer.

The non-stop match lasting 150 hours and 20 minutes between Sunday 24th and Saturday 30th June was held on Loughborough College's synthetic pitch, which – thanks to Notts Sport's Powerplay Instant Cricket System – was transformed into a dedicated cricket venue for the whole week.

Organisers were full of praise for Notts Sport's system, which meant participants were able to play through atrocious weather on day five of the world record attempt.

This unique system, exclusive to Notts Sport, rolls out in just five minutes, creating a high-quality cricket pitch which caters for spin and seam and offers good grip underfoot. Meanwhile, the porous design of the surface meant that the record attempt could continue, come rain, shine – or even freak hailstorms!

Event organiser Chris Hughes, from the university's sports science department, said: "I still cannot quite believe we managed to keep playing during the storms on Thursday. Hailstones bigger than golf balls started falling from the sky and so everybody put helmets on and simply kept going!

"The groundstaff were keen to see how the surface performed and they were, like all of us, amazed with how it coped with the extreme conditions.  Without it, we wouldn't have been able to continue playing and we were so impressed that we're now looking to work with Notts Sport to buy our own bespoke surface."

The players beat the previous record of 105 hours, which was set by Blunham Cricket Club in Bedfordshire, by 45 hours and 20 minutes. The marathon effort, which is on-course to raise up to £15,000, saw Chris's team emerge as overall winners, scoring 6,678 runs to the opposition's 6,642.

Chris decided to combine his passion for cricket with fundraising for the Harley Staples Cancer Trust after visiting a festival organised by the charity last year.

Harley, whose mum Katherine is doing a masters degree in ceramics at Loughborough University, died in 2009 from a rare form of leukaemia.

A host of celebrities visited during the six-day event including Leicestershire cricket captain and England Ashes hero Matthew Hoggard, who is the charity's patron, former Leicestershire wicketkeeper Paul Nixon, ex-England international Alex Tudor, former New Zealand pace bowler Iain O'Brien, Derbyshire's Wes Durston, ex-Leicester Tigers and England scrum-half Harry Ellis, plus Stephen Holt and Graham Lambert from Manchester indie band Inspiral Carpets.

Shaun Patrick, Chairman of Notts Sport, says, "We were delighted Loughborough University Staff Cricket Club broke the world record and raised so much money for such a worthwhile cause.

"The Powerplay Instant Cricket System is the perfect solution to turn an artificial turf or rubber crumb pitch into a superb facility for cricket training or recreational matchplay – however long the match lasts, or how poor the weather conditions are!"

Notts Sport, which has 28 years' experience in the synthetic sports and play surfacing industry, is a leading supplier of non-turf cricket pitch systems for coaching, practice and match play.

The company offers an unrivalled choice of ECB-approved artificial pitches – including the NottsBase D System and Envelope System, which can be designed and installed as matchplay or practice facilities – plus bespoke systems and a range of portable mats for indoor and outdoor use.

A new flexible finance solution from Notts Sport, Fast Track Funding, means schools and local authorities can now receive up-front funding for their chosen facility.

For more about Notts Sport, please click [here].