THE head groundsman at Kent's drought-hit St Lawrence ground is hoping for heavy rainfall ahead of the new cricket season.

Record low levels at the county's reservoirs has led to a blanket sprinkler ban that Mike Grantham warns may have serious repercussions on the region’s first-class and club cricket.

He said: "We didn’t use the sprinklers at all on the outfield last season and it had little effect, but the same wouldn’t be true if we went under drought orders and couldn’t water the square.

"During high summer I usually time the square sprinklers to come on for a few minutes at a time, three times a night.

"All our water is metered, but to give you some idea if I left all our sprinklers on our 2,000 gallon tank would empty in eight minutes.

"We are looking at ways of collecting water from other sources like flooded quarries, which the club did previously from Bluewater, but that’s costly and not very effective.

"I’ve also suggested that if the ground redevelopment plans go ahead the county should look to include a rain and waste water collection system as a must have item."

Should the drought continue Grantham believes the ECB may also have to re-visit their '15 wickets in the opening day' rule for reporting unsatisfactory first-class pitches.

He added: "If this spell continues and we are prevented from using sprinklers on the square then pitches will undoubtedly be dryer than we would like.

"That will mean wickets will turn sooner, possibly more, and that spin bowlers will have a bigger impact on the first day of a game."