Radlett Cricket Club head groundsman Nick Searle has received a commendation in this year’s annual ECB Groundsman of the Year Awards.

The Award, in the out-ground venues category, is awarded to groundsmen around the country who have hosted matches across any of the three formats and are judged based on the pitch performance and ratings provided by the ECB’s Cricket Liaison Officers who are present at the matches, having taken feedback from both umpires and both competing captains.

A busy year for Radlett Cricket Club in 2019 saw the club’s Brunton Memorial Ground host Middlesex matches across all three competition formats, holding first-class County Championship and Vitality Blast matches there for the first time ever and hosting its seventh List-A clash for Middlesex.

2020 will see Radlett again being utilised by Middlesex as one of its preferred out-ground venues, with the club being used as the home base for all four of Middlesex’s fifty-over Royal London Cup matches next season.

Speaking of receiving the ECB commendation, Searle, commented: “A huge amount of work goes in to making the quality of the pitches here at Radlett as good as possible, and it’s always nice to have that effort recognised by the officials at the game and by the ECB.

“We are extremely proud to host Middlesex games in Radlett, and the challenges that come with hosting matches for a professional side are something that the ground-staff here rise to and enjoy.

“I’d like to thank my number two, Jez Menzies, and the rest of the team for their efforts and we very much look forward to hosting Middlesex again this summer in the Royal London Cup.”