Wet-Weather Cricket: How Local Teams Can Prepare for a Rain-Affected Season
A wet season does not have to be a lost season. Clubs that cover early, dry the square patiently, look after kit and know the rulebook lose fewer Saturdays to the weather — and keep more players turning up when the forecast is grim. None of it is glamorous. All of it is the difference between playing cricket and standing around watching puddles.
Get the Covers On Before the First Drop
Timing beats muscle. A flat sheet pulled over a dry pitch two hours before rain is worth far more than four people wrestling covers across a square that has already taken water. Once the top is soaked, the moisture sits in the surface, and no amount of sweeping gets it out again.
Spend an hour on the covers in March and you will save whole weekends in July. Unroll every sheet, hold it up to the light and look for splits along the seams and eyelets pulled out of the hem. Check the ropes, sandbags and ground anchors are all present, because a cover that flaps loose in a gust is worse than no cover at all — it scuffs the surface and lets water in at the edges.
When rain is coming, weight the edges properly and overlap the sheets so the seam faces away from the prevailing wind. Lift covers rather than dragging them; a wet cover dragged across a strip will take the top off it. Two people minimum, four if the wind is up. After the rain, dry covers completely before folding. Fold them wet and you will be replacing them within a season.
Drying a Square: Patience Beats Brute Force
Get standing water off first. A sponge roller or squeegee, worked from the low end of the square, shifts surface water before it has time to drain into the profile. Then bring in absorbent material — hessian, old towels, whatever the club has — and wring it out and go again. If your ground has access to a super sopper or a water hog, use it early; it is far quicker than mopping by hand.
What you should not do is brush sand or sawdust into the pitch to speed things up. Sand on a wet surface makes a mess of the top, and many leagues restrict its use on the square anyway. Check your competition's ground regulations before you reach for the bucket.
- Sweep or sponge surface water off before it soaks in.
- Use hessian or towels, wring and repeat — it is slow, but it works.
- Leave the covers off whenever the radar is clear. Wind dries a pitch faster than sun.
- Do not roll a wet pitch. Heavy rolling while the surface is soft pushes moisture down, smears the top and leaves you with a slow, uneven strip that misbehaves for weeks.
- Test with a boot heel. If the pitch holds a deep print, it needs more time. Roll lightly once the top has firmed.
Be realistic about the outfield too. A wet outfield is a safety issue as much as a playing one, and no club wants a twisted knee in a game that was never going to finish. If the square is fit and the outfield is not, that is a decision for the umpires, not the captain who is desperate for a game.
Kit Care That Saves Money
Wet kit is where clubs quietly bleed cash. Leather pads, gloves and boots soak up water and lose their shape, and nothing ruins them faster than sitting in a sealed bag overnight. Empty the bags, hang everything up and dry it somewhere with airflow — a shed or garage is ideal.
Keep heat away. Radiators, hot cars and tumble dryers crack leather, warp bat handles and shrink grips. Stuff newspaper into boots and change it after a couple of hours, wipe mud off while it is still damp, and dry bat toes with a cloth rather than standing them in a puddle. Dry match balls with a towel and keep them away from the dry ones in the box, or the whole set will go soft.
Encourage players to bring two sets of gloves and socks to wet-weather games. Dry hands hold catches; soaked ones do not.
Adjust Practice Instead of Cancelling It
The nets being under water does not mean a week off. Book indoor slots early — if your club shares a facility with others, the wet weeks are when the calendar fills up — and share transport costs across the senior and junior sections.
Short, sharp outdoor sessions work well when the square is out of bounds. Slip catching with a wet ball, close catching, throwing at a single stump, running between the wickets and reaction drills all need very little space. If you can find a dry strip of outfield, practise with an old wet ball: batting with wet gloves and keeping a wet ball off the bat is a genuine skill, and one most players only meet mid-match.
Keep an eye on bowler workloads in shortened sessions. Bowling off a full run on wet grass is asking for a slip, so clear the run-up area, use appropriate footwear and warm up properly.
Know Your League's Rain Rules Before You Need Them
Read the handbook in April, not in the car park at 2pm. Points for a no-result, the latest start time, the minimum overs needed for a match to count, how overs are reduced, whether a rain rule applies in your competition, and how bowler quotas and fielding restrictions change in a shortened game — all of it matters, and all of it varies from league to league.
Confirm the small things with the opposition captain before play: who inspects the ground and when, what time you will make a call, and how results get submitted. If the handbook does not cover a situation, ask the league secretary rather than arguing it out on the square. Rain rules are often amended mid-season, so check for updates.
Communication Keeps a Wet Day Tidy
Pick one person to be the contact for the fixture and one decision time. Inspect at that time, then send a single message to the players, the opposition and the umpires. Players who find out at 1pm that the game is off are players who will think twice about travelling next week. Keep a spare set of dry kit in the car during a wet spell, and always pack a change of socks.
A Wet-Weather Checklist for Club Volunteers
- Check covers, ropes and weights before the season starts.
- Watch the forecast daily and cover early, not at the last minute.
- Clear surface water before it soaks into the pitch.
- Dry covers fully before folding; dry kit at room temperature.
- Keep indoor net slots booked through the wet weeks.
- Agree inspection times and decisions with the opposition in advance.
- Know your league's minimum overs, cut-off times and points for a no-result.
A rain-affected season is not a lost one. Clubs that treat wet weather as a job to be managed — covers, drying, kit, practice, rules — play more cricket than clubs that hope for the best. And the volunteers who do that work deserve a dry Saturday now and then.
Photo: Patrick Case / Pexels