Old schoolmate Kevin Pietersen is likely to approve of the pitch prepared by Sahara Park Newlands groundsman Evan Flint when South Africa meet England in the third MTN one-day international on Friday.

Pietersen and Flint were educated at Maritzburg College and both spent time on the ground staff at Kingsmead in Durban as a work experience exercise before leaving school. “I really enjoyed it and decided this was something I would like to do,” said Flint.

Since then Pietersen has achieved fame and fortune as an England cricketer, while Flint has become recognised as one of South Africa’s top groundsmen.

He has reason to be proud of his efforts at Sahara Park Newlands. The historic ground was in need of major work when he was appointed in June last year.

The outfield had become patchy and uneven. “The pitch has always played quite well but the outfield was a problem,” he said. “We dug the whole thing up, laser-levelled it, re-grassed it and put in a new irrigation system. Last season it was still settling so we are only really seeing the benefits of the work this season.”

Spectators and television viewers will see a ground restored to its former glory. A stroll across the outfield in Flint’s company revealed a firm, even surface which is likely to reward good stroke play by batsmen and enable fielders to be confident the ball will not bounce unpredictably.

Not everything is perfect, Flint admits. Some small areas of the field were recently attacked by a fungus, which meant some emergency work. 

“It’s amazing this Cape Town weather,” said Flint. “There’s always the possibility of some fungus or something causing a few problems. We had to re-sod a few areas.”

Flint is confident the pitch will play well on Friday. “It should be nice and flat for a one-day game, maybe a bit slower than some other grounds but the bounce should be even.”

There was still a good covering of grass during the week but Flint said this was because he did not want the pitch to dry out unduly because of the recent hot weather. “I’ll probably take it off on Friday morning,” he said.

Flint, 30, started his career immediately after school, working under Phil Russell and Wilson Ngobese at Kingsmead. He also had a spell working in England.

Flint and Pietersen played together for Maritzburg College’s second XI until Pietersen was promoted to the first team in his final term. 

“He’s never looked back since,” said Flint. “Like all young kids my dream was to play for South Africa but I realised I wasn’t quite good enough. I wanted to stay in the game so becoming a groundsman has suited me.”

While Flint and his team have been busy making sure the playing area is worthy of the international stage, a significant clean-up operation has been undertaken in the spectator areas. This has included repainting of signage, the perimeter fence and parts of the pavilions, brickwork in The Oaks area and re-tiling in the President's Suite.  “A lot of hard work has gone into making the ground as spectator-friendly as possible,” said  Western Cape Cricket chief executive Andre Odendaal. "We hope our loyal supporters will thoroughly enjoy their experience at Sahara Park Newlands this  season,” said Professor Odendaal, who revealed also that 99 per cent of the available 113 private suites had been sold.