By JMB
October 14 2006

The ECB has selected Scarborough as the top ground away from a county headquarter in 2006. The award is decided by pitch reports and marks allocated by first class umpires. Mick Stewart who has been the groundsman at Scarborough since 2001 said: "This is a real honour and personally I am delighted that all the hard work has been recognised. I am thrilled to have gone one better than last year when we were runners-up to Southgate – it is always nice to come first. When I first started we re-layed the first pitch and now we have just completed all 20 which is an achievement in itself. I try and produce the best wickets possible in order to allow the players to perform with both bat and ball, particularly for the county championship matches, on what is a terrific ground with great atmosphere. This season in the county championship, Yorkshire defeated Warwickshire here and probably would have beaten Middlesex if it had not been for the rain, with leg-spinners Mark Lawson and Adil Rashid starring with the ball in both matches."

Scarborough chairman Bill Mustoe added: "The award is recognition for a fabulous ground that attracts many visitors to the town. As Mick would be the first to acknowledge, others have contibuted as well such as Headingley's head groundsman Andy Fogarty and his assistant Christian Dunkerly who have been a very big influence. They all work hard and deserve the recognition."