The installation of a new five lane synthetic cricket facility was part of a broader project led by leading UK sports surface consultant White Horse Contractors (WHC) to provide new sports facilities at Summer Fields Preparatory School in Oxford. The historic boarding and day school, which boasts former Prime Ministers and stars of stage and screen among its illustrious alumni reflects the importance of sport in its motto 'Mens sana in corpore sano' - 'a healthy mind in a healthy body'.

As part of the brief, WHC was appointed to create new facilities for tennis, hockey, cricket and athletics within the school’s 70 acre grounds; including a five-bay cricket nets facility with artificial turf batting and bowling ends.

total-play was selected to undertake the design and installation of the cricket facility based on its ability to offer both WHC and the school a tailor-made solution endorsed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in the form of its tp365 non turf cricket system designed and installed by total-play featuring Playrite’s Practice Play woven cricket surface. Practice Play is a professional standard, high quality woven cricket wicket with cross linked backing to provide extra strength and reduce damage caused by general wear and tear during play. Suitable for both practice and match play, tp365 has been designed to offer unparalleled stability and balanced play for the modern game and a playing experience as close as possible to natural turf in terms of ball bounce, spin and speed.

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Everything within the specification was tailored to meet the client’s individual needs - from the powdered black finish of the total-play protection tunnel net system, to reflect the school’s red and black colours, to the inclusion of Playrite’s specially designed tracking lines sewn in to the carpet to provide a training aid for both batters and bowlers. Once construction was complete, total-play was responsible for the remediation of the surrounding area.

Richard Burden, Contracts Manager at White Horse Contractors says:

“This was the first project completed by total-play Ltd on behalf of White Horse Contractors and the works were completed both on time and within budget. The finished product was well received by both Summer Fields Preparatory School and ourselves as contractors, and it provides a good solution to the brief originally set.”

The school recently launched its new facilities to much fanfare, with parents and pupils present and past - including the actor Rowan Atkinson, whose son previously attended the school - witnessing large numbers of pupils making full use of the new practice nets.

For further info visit: www.playrite.co.uk