VIJAYAWADA: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) curator, P.R. Viswanathan, along with Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) officials, visited the site at Mangalagiri where the proposed exclusive cricket stadium by ACA is coming up.

In his suggestions to the ACA, which is sprucing up two grounds and a practice area at the proposed stadium, Mr. Viswanathan advised that the wicket should have a base of 8 inches above which 2 inches of sand and 2 inches of sandy loam should be laid. "The top layer will be of 6 inches clay to be planted with grass," he added.

He said that outfield would have soft base of river sand with uniform thickness of 6 inches. "This is will allow quicker draining and drying of the outfield. The top layer will be a mixture of red oil, river sand and organic mixture to be planted with G2 (a variety) grass.

"The grass has better matting than Bermuda variety making the incidence of weeding would be less," he suggested.

Sprinkler system

He suggested to the ACA to have sprinkler system in all the areas. "The `A' grounds will have a pop-up system and this will give uniform water percolation and coverage. This system is comparatively costlier. The `B' ground and the practice area will have gun sprinklers with 30 metres reach, which will be comparatively cheaper," he added.

He also suggested a water storage sump of one lakh litre capacity to cater to all the grounds. The estimated cost of the two grounds and the practice area is Rs. 56.22 lakhs.

Meanwhile, ACA officials have already initiated the works to dig borewells to the depth of over 160 feet in three places in the site area.

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