HEAD groundsman Tim Packwood says it is still too early to assess the damage to Worcestershire's pitch caused by the recent flooding.

The man responsible for preparing the County's wickets at New Road says the water level needs to drop further before he and his team can start the repair work.

When the water level is lower, the groundstaff will be able to drag-mat the square - a process which is designed to stir up the silt which has settled so it drains away with the flood water rather than remaining on the pitch.

Packwood said: "We have to wait until the water has dropped to between knee and ankle height before we can start doing some drag-matting on the square.

"We will wait for the water level to go down a bit and assess the situation further then.

"Any extra rain would set us back, but a little more as the level was going down could help to wash the silt off the square."

The speed at which the water burst the banks of the Teme and Severn rivers, which surround New Road, caught everyone by surprise.

Packwood also admitted that because the flooding has happened during the season, it has created extra difficulties.

He added: "One of the main problems is that when the pitch floods in winter we have the square pegged out so we can clearly see where it is even when the ground is under water.

"However, this time the water came across so quickly we couldn't do that so it is very difficult to tell where the square is so we can drag-mat it.

"I might have to bite the bullet and wait for the water to recede until we can see one or two of the net-bowling wickets at the edge of the square and then drag-mat the rest of the wickets then.

"That would mean losing those wickets, but it might be for the best to make sure we can work on the ones we need to use again this season.

"I am a little bit concerned because some of the wickets we have used this season need to be played on again.

"The grass has been cut down and we will just have to wait and see how they are when the water has gone.

"It will probably be a bit too soon to have the ground ready for the Kent game in the County Championship, but we'll have to wait and see.

The groundsman was quick to praise his team and the grounstaff at Kidderminster and Himley who have pulled out all the stops to offer Worcestershire alternative venues to play their Twenty20 Cup games.

Packwood said: "It has been a bit of a nightmare, but my team have worked really hard.

"We are really grateful to the staff at Kidderminster and Himley too for helping us to stage the games.

"The wicket at Himley will have been used for their Birmingham League game so we will just need to take some grass off the top and it looks like it could be a good track for a 40-over game."

Packwood has divided his time since the flooding between New Road, Kidderminster and Himley.

He said: "I've just been trying to give the Kidderminster and Himley groundstaff a few pointers and not take over - I know I wouldn't like it if someone came to New Road and started telling me how to do things.

"I've been mucking in with things to help out - in fact I spent some of last week painting the back of the sight-screen black as Kidderminster never host games that use a white cricket ball."