Jasmine blooming in male-dominated job

Leeds: As the seasoned Richard Robinson, Yorkshire’s head of grounds, was getting the Headingley ground ready for the opening Test between England and India, an unmistakable presence among his army of men was Jasmine Nicholls. Wiry frame and busy like a bee, Nicholls was at the centre of the things, executing the orders Robinson was handing out to his team with panache. 

It was almost like seated at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru a couple of days before a game where the trend-setting Jacintha Kalyan would be getting the ground ready as the curator. But just like Jacintha, India’s first woman curator who has now moved on to BCCI’s Centre Of Excellence on City's outskirts, Nicholls is finding her feet in her job as one of the leading ground staff members at Headingley, a ground stepped in rich history.

Nicholls, who is originally from Leicester but has moved base to Leeds since her University days from 2013, said she chose to take up the traditionally male-dominated job of pitch curation and ground maintenance because of her dislike for a desk job.

“I love being outside and doing jobs outside and just being in the sunshine. So, it was kind of, I needed a change from the job that I was in because from a mental health perspective, I wasn't in a great place,” Nicholls tells DH. “Whereas, the happiest that I'd have been during that time was when I was outside helping Richard. So, it kind of just seemed like the right fit at the time and I started here a couple of years ago and not looked back.”

Nicholls’ first attraction to the outdoor life began when she started working at Sports Park Weetwood at the University of Leeds as the facilities manager. She met Robinson there and started picking his brain about ground, pitch preparation etc. Living just around Sports Park, she began to attract Robinson’s attention by doing small tasks like watering the pitch and cutting the grass. A door opened for her when Robinson was in need of more staff at Headingley. Nicholls didn’t think twice and jumped right in.

She has now helped prepare surfaces for a few ODIs as well as two Test matches. The 29-year-old Nicholls’ main goal now is to climb the ladder and go where few women have before. “My main goal is to get more women into this job. I wish to try and influence more women to take this up.”