As the old saying goes ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ – exactly the motto of Durham County Cricket Club’s Head Groundsman Vic Demain when it comes to his usage of Johnsons J Premier Wicket. Now into his seventh season with the 100% perennial ryegrass mixture, he cites the early season establishment, wear tolerance and visual merit as the reasons he’s never considered changing as the club gets set for one of the longest and most intense seasons of cricket to date!

It’s not just the number of years clocking up for Vic at the Bank Homes Riverside Stadium, as are the demands on the playing surface – with the season extending at both ends and fixtures starting earlier every year. “The windows we have to get onto the ground have reduced significantly due to the quantity of games and training sessions meaning we rely heavily on having a well established and strong sward going into the season” he explains. “Theoretically this is not too much of a problem, except that we also have to battle the cold and dry northeastern climate!”

“Typically we won’t see consistent growth until the end of May, by which point we can be halfway through our county championship season. This makes speed of germination crucial for our autumn renovation work, achieving that germination before we lose the temperature to ensure we go into the following season with good coverage.”

Not just renowned for rapid establishment, the four top-rated cultivars in J Premier Wicket ensure outstanding wear tolerance, high disease resistance and fineness of leaf for aesthetic and play quality across squares and outfields. “It’s the only seed we use, both for renovations and in-season repairs if and when needed” Vic adds.

“Besides germination, fineness of leaf is also incredibly important to us for both play and presentation purposes. The team and I take incredible pride in how the ground looks from the stands and with J Premier Wicket we get it looking its best from every angle.” He continues, “This is assisted by the fact that we see very little in the way of disease.”

On the topic of assistance, Vic also rates the back up technical support from Martin Stephenson of Aitkens and, more recently, DLF’s Ben Morgan. “I have always had nothing but quality advice from Martin and the DLF technical team, many of whom I’ve known for a good number of years. It’s a great product, at a great price, which performs year after year. Why would I consider using anything else?!”