Cricket in this country may be in hibernation but there is no respite forgroundsman John Dodds as deputy Sports Editor PETE BARROW discovers.

WINTER is a time when the cricketing world puts it's feet up.

While the chosen few professionals face the heat in Lahore or Barbados or Sydney for a few months, for the rest - from county class to village green - it is a time to oil the bat, wash the whites and then stick the whole lot in storage for almost half a year.

Certainly in a week of floods in North Yorkshire, cricket seems a million miles away.

However, for John Dodds the work is only just beginning.

For Dodds, and his partner Mike Cale from Scarborough, winter is when the hard graft comes laying and preparing wickets for the following summer. And such has been their success at making tracks that they have been travelling as far afield as Holland and Canada.

"We were out in Holland prior to the last World Cup when we prepared a pitch for the South Africa match against Zimbabwe and we are now working in Canada on pitches for the ICC Trophy in Canada," explained Dodds.

"It is quite a novelty for the Canadians as they have been used to playing on matting and grass surfaces are something new.

"But we have put down nine brand new squares last June and we are now preparing them to be playable for next July.

"A year is not ideal, usually it takes two years for a pitch to settle, but we are working hard to get them right because there will be 81 games played on them in a three week period - so they are going to take some hammering."

It is something of a test of the duo's abilities as obviously conditions differ from preparing pitches for local leagues - Dodds is pitch consultant to both the Horwath Pulleyn Heselton York Vale and Hunters York and District Senior leagues as well as county games, the pair having also put down two new tracks at Yorkshire's North Marine Drive venue in Scarborough - to those needed for international action.

"Really there is no comparison to be made because a village team require different things to the professional players," said Dodds.

"But it is still basically the same process and whatever pitch you are laying it is all about time and care.

"Obviously a quicker paced pitch would probably not suit league cricketers, but the main consideration is that there should be consistent bounce and a consistent grass covering so that it is a fair contest between the teams involved."

Given the pre-occupation at professional level with doctored pitches - Lancashire and Surrey have both taken flak for creating tracks that were more than helpful to their international spinners - Dodds would hold no truck with creating pitches to suit the way a side intends to play.

"I am not in favour of that kind of thing at all," said Dodds.

"I really don't believe in the so-called doctoring of pitches, what I want to achieve is a surface that will give the players the best possible game and that the best team should win.

"I firmly believe that cricket is about the players and the contest should be decided by their abilities and not by the condition of the pitch."

And producing quality pitches has certainly gained Dodds and Cale a very good name.

One local club who have prospered as a result of their labours are Stamford Bridge, who last summer attracted Yorkshire seconds to use their ground for their fixture with Hampshire - and the county side will be returning.

"We received a report back on the pitch we prepared at Stamford Bridge and I am pleased to say that it was excellent," enthused Dodds.

"We prepared a pitch for a three-day second XI game and on the basis of the way that played Yorkshire have said that they will be coming back and probably for a four-day game next summer.

"If we are asked to do that then we will - it is always nice to get praise!"