Brexit: Cricket pitches in Northern Ireland may have to be dug up due to protocol

Problems getting special soil ‘completely farcical,’ says Ulster Unionist Party

Ulster Unionist Party MLA John Stewart with cricket loam (PA)

Cricket pitch soil in Northern Ireland may have to be dug up and replaced due to post-Brexit protocol arrangements, according to officials for the sport in the province.

The special clay-containing material known as loam, obtained from counties in England, gives the ball its predictable bounce on the pitch.

However, bureaucracy introduced following Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal has caused disruption for suppliers sending a range of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Carrickfergus Cricket Club groundsman Michael Kennedy said: “If we do not get this stuff it looks like we are going to have to dig our square up and replace it with something else, and that is going to be a disaster.”

Northern Ireland continues to follow some the EU’s rules on trade to prevent a hard border, which has caused particular problems for the supply of agricultural goods from Great Britain.

Mr Kennedy said the loam supply issue needed to be resolved before renewal work on the surface begins in September – and warned the pitch could start to deteriorate and became unsafe.

“There is no alternative, we cannot just nip down to the local merchant and buy a bag of this,” he said. “I have been involved in cricket for 15 years and it is what other generations have used before … We are sitting here at the moment trying to work out what we can do.”

Uel Graham, cricket operations manager for the Northern Cricket Union (NCU), said not having loam available created a “far-reaching”problem at all levels of the sport, from international down to schools.

He said: “If they are not able to prepare and maintain pitches, that would mean pitches may need to be replaced more often, which is a very costly aspect.

“Covid has already had a major impact on clubs with a truncated season last year, so any additional financial burden is something clubs would find very difficult.”

Protocol has been met with opposition in Northern Ireland (PA)

The protocol has prompted a backlash from unionist politicians who believe it threatens Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market.

Stormont assembly member John Stewart, of the Ulster Unionist Party, is a fierce critic of current arrangements.

“What we are seeing here is another example of the sledgehammer to crack a non-existent nut of the protocol and of the EU,” he said of loam supply issues. “It seems completely farcical to me that up to now there has been no solutions to this.”

The UK government has angered the EU by unilaterally extending the grace period for fully implementing protocol arrangements.

Diplomats from EU member states also convened and agreed to back proposals for legal action against Mr Johnson’s government, with Brussels understood to be ready Brussels to initiate legal action this week.