Blotter Machines
fashioned engineering. If you make it big and strong enough,
it ain’t going to bust. Don’t make something cheaper for the
sake of it, and never skimp on materials.”
All the test and county grounds up and down the country
have at least one Blotter now. Some have two, or even three.
Ian says that right now there are 35 Super Blotters and 40
of the more recent Mini Blotter are out there soaking it up.
All the Super Blotters in county cricket are owned by
the clubs, and most of them are now ten years or so old.
“We make them too well,” said Ian, tongue in cheek.
“They do last. The chassis is indestructible, but the drums
and other parts do eventually need replacing. The slow
handclap is depressing in sport, yet a great motivator to
groundsmen and us the technical support.
Cricket has always been, and still is, the mainstay of
the Blotter’s purpose and market, but its horizon is ever
widening. Tennis, rugby, golf, rock concerts’ they’ve all
benefitted from Blotters. Anywhere in fact where excessive
rainfall can damage an event and more especially its income.
CMS Blotter is a small firm. Ian wants it to stay just that,
so they can carry on giving personal attention to all Blotter
users. The lineup is Toby Sampson - with CMS Blotter for
22 years and is the electronics wizard, ‘Webbie’ - as he is
always known, who does most of the delivery driving and
spraying, Ian, who’s the hydraulics expert and Jack Lazaruk
who started an apprenticeship with them last year and is
the son of Adam Lazaruk and nephew of Toby so they are
very family involved. The four of them help each other out
daily and are a very together team.
It takes 8-10 weeks to build a Super Blotter, and about
three weeks for the Mini version. Assembly is totally by
hand in the firm’s workshops.
The Mini Blotter is aimed at clubs that don’t have the
money for a large one. Ian got the idea from seeing the
roller in action at Lords and came up with a more compact
unit, that can stand up to repetitive use and one that goes
backwards as well as forwards. The weight pressure ratio
means the foams don’t go like they inevitably do in time with
the bigger unit. Many of the counties have them and use
them for the nets and nursery areas. Ian has just sold two
to Scotland cricket.
They cost about £7,000, and like the big Blotter, the
Mini is completely hand-built and lasts. The company is
in the process of designing and making a cheaper hand-
pushed machine.
The metal parts are all plasma cut or made individually
for them by local manufacturer CFC Profiling. All units
feature 35 hydraulic hoses. Every component part is kept in
stock, and they never run out.
The Super Blotter does its job quite simply by soaking
up surface water, collecting it in two troughs, and by means
of a pump depositing the contents into a drainage outlet or
jetting it beyond the boundary or play area. As soon as the
cricket season’s over the Blotters all come back for annual
service.
Should there ever be a problem on site at a club one of
the team will attend the next day – the same day if possible
– to sort it out. Ian and his colleagues pride themselves on
their willingness to bend over backwards for their clients.
The 24-hour parts guarantee is a real bonus to anyone in
charge of outdoor facilities.
“We’ve never lost one yet. Everybody keeps coming
back to us,” said Ian.
“Getting Blotters into universities and schools is our next
goal. Grounds where Test cricket is played still get back-up
machines from us for matches, but no pun intended, the
cricket market is pretty nearly flooded.
“The machine offers great benefits to any establishment
where avoiding postponement or delay to outdoor events
is a money saver. We’ve already sold a machine to
Loughborough University and several private schools.
“I’ve been very lucky. I just happened to be in the right
place at the right time. If it hadn’t been for Mick Hunt and
Richard Taylor, then being asked by the ECB to take care
of their Whales, who knows? We still work closely with
ECB Pitch Inspector Chris Woods and I’m pretty sure my
machine’s name has stuck because often as not I get called
Mr Blotter.”
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