Setting up a safe practice net for club sessions

Why the practice net deserves a proper check

Club nets take a beating. Between Tuesday evening colts sessions, midweek senior practice and the endless stream of throwdowns, a net that looked tidy in April can be quietly falling apart by July. Loose netting, a missing peg or a worn mat are easy to overlook when you are focused on getting twenty players through their overs before the light goes. But the practice net is where most of your members spend their training time, and a poorly maintained one is one of the most avoidable sources of injury in club cricket.

The good news is that a thorough check takes ten minutes. Do it before every session, not just at the start of the season, and you will catch problems while they are still cheap and quick to fix.

Inspect the netting itself

Start with the mesh. Walk the full length of the net on both sides and look for holes, tears, and stretched sections where the squares have deformed. A ball that passes through a gap in the side netting can catch a passer-by, and a batsman who hooks a pull shot into a sagging section may find the ball rebounds back at them unexpectedly.

• Run a hand along the bottom metre of netting, where wear is worst, and check for frayed strands and holes larger than a golf ball.
• Look at the top edge and the joins at corners, where cable ties, shackles and stitching tend to fail first.
• Check for sagging. Netting should be reasonably taut; if it billows in the wind or droops into the batting area, it needs re-tensioning.
• Inspect any divider net between lanes. A split divider lets a ball from one lane stray into the next, which is dangerous when two batters are working at once.

If you find a small tear, patch it before the session or mark that section out of use. Do not rely on "we'll sort it at the weekend" — that is how a minor repair becomes a replacement.

Pegs, posts and the frame

The frame holds everything together, so give it the same attention. Check that every ground peg is present and driven fully home. A net that lifts at one corner will flap, and a flapping net distracts bowlers and can whip back into the lane.

• Walk the perimeter and push down on each post. Any movement at the base means the peg is loose or the ground has softened after rain.
• Look for rust, cracks and bent sections on metal frames, and for rot or splintering on timber posts.
• Check guy ropes and anchor points if your net uses them; a slack rope puts strain on the opposite corner.
• Make sure there are no sharp edges, protruding bolts or exposed wire ends at head height or below knee height.

Carry a few spare pegs and a mallet in the kit bag. It is a two-minute job to reseat a corner before practice and it saves a whole session of distraction.

The surface and the run-off

What is underfoot matters as much as what surrounds you. Mats should sit flat, with no ripples, curled edges or gaps where a stud or a toe can catch. If your net sits on grass, check for holes, divots, stones and waterlogged patches, and mark anything you cannot fix straight away.

The run-off is the area most clubs neglect. A bowler following through, a batsman backing up, or a fielder chasing a ball needs room to decelerate safely. As a rule of thumb, allow at least three metres behind the bowler's end and four metres behind the batter, and keep those zones clear.

• Move kit bags, water bottles, chairs and spare stumps well outside the lane and the run-off.
• Check for sprinkler heads, drain covers, tree roots and low branches that someone could trip over or run into.
• Make sure the entrance to the net is not blocked, so players can step out quickly.
• Look at lighting if you train in the evening — shadows across the run-off hide uneven ground.

Brief the players before the first ball

A safe net is not just about equipment. Set the tone early and everyone benefits. Agree who is bowling in which lane, keep one ball in play per lane where possible, and make it clear that nobody walks behind the net while a bowler is running in. Younger players in particular need reminding to stay behind the stumps or beside the bowler, never square of the batter.

Insist on helmets for anyone facing a hard ball, including coaches throwing down and batters working on their own. Keep a first aid kit and a charged phone within easy reach, and know who the designated first aider is for that session. If a ball is lost over the net into a neighbouring garden or road, send someone sensible to retrieve it rather than letting a child sprint off unsupervised.

A quick routine that actually sticks

Make the check part of setting up, not a separate chore. One coach or senior player walks the net while others warm up: netting, pegs, frame, surface, run-off. Anything that fails gets fixed, cordoned off, or logged for the grounds team. Note recurring problems in a small maintenance book so you can see when a repair keeps failing and the netting needs replacing rather than patching.

Ten minutes of diligence before each session protects your players, your equipment and your season. A well-kept net lets everyone concentrate on the thing they came for — getting better at cricket.