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Cape Town - The Board of the Western Province Cricket Association have announced the appointment of Ihtishaam Adams as new head groundsman at Newlands.
Adams will succeed the decorate Evan Flint, who has moved to Wanderers Stadium, where he has been the curator since March 2019.
The 31-year-old Adams had been the assistant groundsman since 2014 and his tenure will start on August 1.
Flint heaped praise on his successor, saying: "... His commitment and unwavering dedication are his greatest traits, and he played a major role as part of my team in my awards as top groundsman in South Africa for the past two seasons."
CEO of WPCA Nabeal Dien reiterated Flint's views, "We always like to, wherever possible, promote from within in order to provide opportunities for growth within the organisation and Ithtishaam has learnt his trade over the years from the very best in Evan Flint and has the confidence and knowledge to forge his own successful career as the head groundsman of our wonderful ground. We wish him the very best."
Adams' first stint at Newlands was for a month during the ICC Champions Trophy in October 2012. In December 2012, Flint asked him if he was interested in coming to work for the ground staff on a contract basis.
He worked for the 2012/13 season and so impressive was that Flint asked him to become assistant groundsman at Newlands from the start of the 2014 season.
Asked what his philosophy is about pitch preparation, he said, "The match should offer a good contest between bat and ball. You don't look for lopsided victories. On day one, the ideal is that the team batting should score 280 to 350 with seven wickets down. After day two, the opposition should be leading by 50 with six wickets in the bank. The ideal is that the match should last four days, not two days."
Currently, Newlands has 14 pitches on the square. They use ten for official games, of which five are TV pitches for international games, Cape Cobras matches and the Mzansi Super League.
