What are the Physical Properties of a Good Cricket Wicket Soil?
This apparatus is used to measure the crushing strength, or cohesion, of a soil Clay Content To provide a sufficiently hard pitch for good ball bounce under Australian conditions, and to show acceptable change over the course of a match, the clay content needs to be between 50% and 70%. A higher clay content is likely to cause cracks that are too wide. Sand grains tend to initiate cracking but there should not be too much coarse sand as this can cause ball damage. If there is excess silt cohesion will be reduced, powdering will occur and the amount of cracking can be reduced. Cracking characteristics The clay used must be a cracking clay, and as a rule the Smectite (Montmorillonite) and Illite clays make the best wickets. Smectite clays are preferred as they provide the greatest plasticity, cohesion and hardness. A soil high in Kaolinite should be avoided as strong hydrogen bonding means that kaolinite clay remains strongly bound together when wet, with the result that the soil does no
