“Our 2G Flicx Pitch is a really valuable asset” say Phantom’s Cricket Club, Adelaide

A new 2G Flicx Pitch branded up with two club sponsors logo arrived at Phantoms Cricket – Glenelg ANA Cricket Club in Adelaide for the start of the 2022 cricket season. Phantom’s have access to two council-maintained ovals – one with a turf centre wicket and one with an artificial.

With the 2G Flicx Pitch supplied in two half pitch rolls, Phantoms have expanded their capacity and utilise the full pitch as two junior pitches, playing U10 matches bowling off one end as well as for U10s and U12s training and have found overall that it has given them a lot of value and more options to host junior cricket at the club.

Speaking to president Matthew Polkinghorne, the problem the club was looking to resolve was born from issues with junior teams playing off 18m and not wanting too much wear and tear on vital bowling areas on their turf wicket plus they were also really keen to alleviated the strain on net capacity during busy junior training sessions.

Hosting more home games

Prior to purchasing the Flicx Pitch, Phantoms had to put in a request to the league to have more away games as they just didn’t have enough capacity to host all the designated home fixtures. This newfound equilibrium provided by the Flicx Pitch purchase has been a game-changer, minimising travel demands for families and cultivating a stronger sense of attachment to the club. The Flicx Pitch’s contribution in reshaping these dynamics is clear with Matt echoing the sentiment, stating, “New kids to the club and developing players have really benefited from the Flicx Pitch – we are glad we have got one.”

Enhanced training context

Prior to purchasing a Flicx Pitch, which is a modular, portable, roll out system; Phantom’s were mowing makeshift pitches into the outfield. Now with the 2G Flicx Pitch as part of their training repertoire, Matt and the other coaches feel that sessions are much more realistic.

Our grass outfield itself is generally good but there are quite a few lumps and bumps creating tufted areas so when the ball (142g Kookaburra composite) is pitching on these uneven patches, the bounce is a little inconsistent and not coming through as true as some of the higher ability juniors would like. Flicx are looking to pick up on this feedback with the council maintenance team as the firmer and flatter the area under the pitch, the better the performance so this is something all parties can look to improve for season two to get even more use from the pitch.

Funding their 2G Flicx Pitch

Phantoms used a mixture of streams to fund their pitch. Two local sponsors (a supermarket and sports store) doubled their in-kind support for the club. The supermarket for example provides stock to sell which create funds to allocate towards the pitch, whilst Matt also put in a successful grass roots cricket fund bid. With the Toyota Good for Cricket raffle too you could arguably say this also offset the purchase as without grants and sponsorship, the pitch would not have been able to be funded.

New venue opportunity

The Phantom’s committee is also working hard behind the scenes with the council on a new venue opportunity. A local park, once synonymous with cricket, now stands poised for a renaissance. While Matt aspires in the long term to establish a new turf wicket at the site, the 2G Flicx Pitch emerges as a natural steppingstone in the interim. The club envisions harnessing the Flicx Pitch’s versatility to establish a junior setup, attracting a fresh pool of young players who were previously untapped at this new community venue. The 2G Flicx Pitch unlocks these various applications for Phantoms and they can’t stress how much they love it!