'We wound up the Australians at Trent Bridge'

Steve Birks said his pitches are made to bring wickets - but they've also seen lots of runs

"We've wound [the Australian team] up sometimes, really tried to get under their skin... and they bit a couple of times," reflects Trent Bridge groundsman Steve Birks.

Mr Birks, who has announced his retirement, has overseen several landmark moments in recent English cricket history.

His Trent Bridge pitches hosted Stuart Broad's devastating bowling display in the 2015 Ashes, the famous Atherton against Donald session against South Africa in 1998, and the birth of 'Bazball'.

But there is one part of the job he is happy to leave behind.

"I will not miss when it is absolutely chucking it down and getting wet through," he said.

Bowler Stuart Broad memorably tore through the Australian batting in 2015

Nottinghamshire's head groundsman is to retire in January after a 29-year career.

Mr Birks, who previously spent 18 years at Derbyshire, said he always focused on lively pitches.

He said: "You need to take 20 wickets to win games, so my key role is to prepare a pitch you can get wickets on.

"Once a game is over, it is finished and it has gone well, you can enjoy it, but at the time you don't enjoy it because you are under so much pressure."

One of the most remarkable series of wickets at Trent Bridge was in the 2015 Ashes Test against Australia, when local bowler Stuart Broad took eight wickets for 15 runs.

"The pitch had a tinge of green in it and he bowled absolutely fantastically," said Mr Birks.

"The pitch had a bit of pace in it and everything carried, everything they nicked went to slips, and that is what you are looking for."

The encounter between bowler Allan Donald and batsman Michael Atherton went down in sporting history

But it has not just been the bowling attacks that have performed at Trent Bridge, with some record run-scoring also being witnessed at the stadium.

England's men twice broke the world-record one-day match total, scoring 444 against Pakistan in 2016, and 481 against Australia two years later.

It also witnessed England's Bazball revolution - a more aggressive way of playing Test cricket - starting in earnest when the side chased down 299 in just 50 overs to beat New Zealand in 2022.

Mr Birks said another one of his favourite matches was the 1998 battle between the endurance of English batsman Michael Atherton and the hostile bowling of South African Allan Donald.

"After days like that it's nice to go and watch some local cricket and sit in an empty field with no one around.

"No one knows me and its lovely just to reflect on the day," he said.

As well as the quality of his pitches, Mr Birks has tried to influence games through less-than-subtle psychology, particularly against the Australian team.

"We've wound them up sometimes," he said, "really tried to get under their skin.

"We told them the pitch isn't that great and, especially when they had the great spinner Shane Warne, we said it wasn't going to turn and he wasn't going to get anything out of it.

"And they bit a couple of times."

Mr Birks said he "hadn't had a summer holiday in 40 years" and was now looking forward to travelling.

"We love to walk and I'm not a great gardener, so there's lots of places we want to visit," he added.