Thin the sward and undertake any minor repairs to levels

It is important to groom and thin out some of the grass in the early stages of pitch preparation. Thinning out the grass between the popping creases to reduce the density of grass will help to increase the drying rate of the pitch surface as well as helping to reduce large grass plants and/or too much sideways growth which may cause excessive seam or spin.

Tools for removal include verticutters, hand scarifiers, brush, springbok rake or whatever is at your disposal, taking care never to disturb the soil surface (it is not uncommon at First Class grounds to see groundstaff doing this operation using scrubbing brushes or wire brushes).

Avoid thinning out the bowling ends (from the popping/batting crease back behind the stumps) to help wear resistance in this area and aid recovery from the damage caused by players. Reducing grass density should continue until any horizontal growth has been lifted and soil is visible between the individual grass plants.

The initial thinning should be the most aggressive and occurs before rolling to prevent undesirable horizontal growth being rolled into the pitch and to allow any slight damage to the surface in the process to be addressed in the wetting and rolling process.