SECRET trials carried out on a school cricket pitch could revolutionise the game at international and county level.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is carrying out tests on a synthetic cricket pitch which would be less prone to cracking and easier to maintain at Tonbridge School.

Chris Wood, the ECB’s pitches consultant, hoped to keep the experiments quiet until similar trials at the Old Trafford ground in Manchester were revealed during coverage of the latest Ashes series.

He has since been inundated with queries from groundsmen around the country.

Mr Wood has been testing a synthetic pitch made with polymer enzymes over the last year and although results have yet to be published, he said: "The benefits, if successful, are far reaching for all levels of cricket."

But while the stable plastic pitches can host continuous fixtures without deteriorating, they could change the way the game is played.

By creating a solid playing surface the new pitches will theoretically make the game easier for batsmen, and harder for bowlers, who will not be able to use rough areas and cracks in the pitch to vary the bounce and direction of a cricket ball.

Peter Robinson, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s cricket development officer, argued the new pitches would enhance the game and said he was intrigued by the experiments.

Mr Robinson, also chairman of Kent Cricket Board’s Groundsman’s Association, said: "All the local clubs have a cricket square and a local enthusiast who spends their time looking after it, but we’re losing these volunteers now – we’re only just holding our own in maintaining pitches."

"If this technology is made available it could change all this."

And he added: "The game is changing. The cricket establishment used to argue that limited-overs cricket and the players’ brightly coloured clothing was bad for the game but look what it has done."