August
Make sure that you have all your materials in stock, or ordered, for the end of the season renovation in early September, or whenever the last match is played. Wickets will be coming out of use for the season during August, so aeration and scarification can be carried out on these wickets to get a head start on the major renovation work later on.
The ends can be lightly forked over to a depth of 50mm or so to produce a fine seed bed and a suitable grass seed applied. Typically this will be dominated by perennial ryegrass.
The body of the renovated wicket can be scarified, aerated and spiked with a sarel spiked roller and then oversown with a suitable grass seed mixture. The mixture content will depend upon the level and standard of cricket being played. At this time of year, perennial ryegrass should easily germinate within 7 days from being sown, assuming adequate irrigation is given.
Apply a suitable fertiliser to those wickets which have been taken out of use, to aid seed germination and sward establishment.
September
With the season now closing, or closed, a thorough renovation of the square will be required. Mow the whole square to 5mm or so, to produce a fairly clean top surface. Scarify thoroughly: This could be from 3 occasions up to 10 occasions. It all depends on the standard of the square and available staffing. This will really clear out any undesirable vegetation. Scarify from corner to corner as this will be a change from the end to end direction which is carried out during the playing season.
Mow afterwards to keep the surface clean and ready to receive the seed and top-dressing. Aerate the square, ideally with a punch action solid tine machine, to100 - 150mm depth.
Irrigating the square before it is aerated may assist in tine penetration. Sarel spike the square and then overseed at 34 - 50 g/m2. Typically a pure 100% perennial ryegrass mixture is applied to the ends, whilst the main body of the square may only contain 50% of this species. Sometimes, just fescue / bent is sown in the main body of a cricket square. It all depends upon individual requirements.
A low nitrogen fertiliser can be applied, if an application hasn't already been given in August.Apply and work in a top-dressing material, using a trulute and straight edge to ensure the square is even throughout.
Germination sheets can be applied, especially at the ends, which will invariably be almost bare.