A hover cover is a specialised hovercraft used at major cricket grounds to cover and protect the cricket pitch from inclement weather, particularly showers of rain. The hover cover can be stored close to the edge of the cricket field, and when required can be moved over the pitch within minutes, and then removed easily when weather conditions improve. A hover cover can be used instead of more traditional wheeled covers, typically with a metal frame covered with fabric or metal, but two or three separate sections are necessary to cover the pitch completely, which take much longer and require more effort to push into place and remove.
Usually around 100 ft (30 m) long and 15 ft (4.6 m) wide, sufficient to entirely cover the pitch of 66 ft × 10 ft (20.1 m × 3.0 m), the hover cover has a petrol motor at either end driving fans which generate an air cushion to lift the device, and also provide propulsion which allows the hover cover to be moved by a few people with relatively little effort, hovering smoothly over the field of play without causing any damage. The hovercraft can also carry plastic sheets or tarpaulins which can be quickly rolled out to increase the covered area, with sheets at each end to cover the bowlers' run ups, and at either side to protect other pitches on the square. It can also incorporate gutters and drainage pipes so the collected water may be directed way from the square and towards the drains.
The concept was developed by the fabric manufacturer Stuart Canvas, which also makes and sells cricket accessories including sight screens, cricket nets, scoreboards, and wheeled covers. The first hover cover was trialled in Cheshire in 1998 and used at Lord's in 1999. The first hover cover at Lord's was replaced with a new model in 2020. Hover covers are used at most Test cricket grounds in the UK, including Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Old Trafford, Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, and the Rose Bowl near Southampton, and at some grounds outside the UK, including the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Dakha in Bangladesh and the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium at Pune in India.
A roof is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temperature, and wind. A roof is part of the building envelope.
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces.
The SR.N4 hovercraft was a combined passenger and vehicle-carrying class of hovercraft. The type has the distinction of being the largest civil hovercraft to have ever been put into service.
A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over, attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs. First used as portable homes by nomads, tents are now more often used for recreational camping and as temporary shelters.
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets. It is 22 yd (20.12 m) long and 10 ft (3.05 m) wide. The surface is flat and is normally covered with extremely short grass, but can be completely dry or dusty soil with barely any grass or, in some circumstances, made from an artificial material. Over the course of a cricket match, the pitch is not repaired or altered other than in special circumstances - meaning that it will change condition. Any grass on the pitch in the game's first over, for example, may have disappeared by twentieth over due to wear.
A tarpaulin or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinforced grommets at the corners and along the sides to form attachment points for rope, allowing them to be tied down or suspended.
Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron, wriggly tin, pailing, corrugated sheet metal, or just tin (Australia) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised mild steel, cold-rolled to produce a linear ridged pattern in them. Although it is still popularly called "iron" in the UK, the material used is actually steel, and only the surviving vintage sheets may actually be made up of 100% iron. The corrugations increase the bending strength of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the corrugations, but not parallel to them, because the steel must be stretched to bend perpendicular to the corrugations. Normally each sheet is manufactured longer in its strong direction.
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England. It is home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club and its T20 team Birmingham Bears. Edgbaston has also been the venue for Test matches, One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. Edgbaston has hosted the T20 Finals Day more than any other cricket ground. Edgbaston is the main home ground for the Birmingham Phoenix men's team in The Hundred competition from 2021.
An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a light structure of aluminium, iron or steel, possibly wood or transparent material. The configuration of this structure is something of a truss, space frame or planar frame. Awnings are also often constructed of aluminium understructure with aluminium sheeting. These aluminium awnings are often used when a fabric awning is not a practical application where snow load as well as wind loads may be a factor.
A canopy is an overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter from weather conditions such as sun, hail, snow and rain. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor. The word comes from the ancient Greek κωνώπειον, from κώνωψ, which is a bahuvrihi compound meaning "mosquito". The first 'o' changing into 'a' may be due to influence from the place name Canopus, Egypt thought of as a place of luxuries.
Marine canvas refers to a varied array of fabrics used in the fabrication and production of awnings, covers, tarps, sunshades, signs and banners for the advertising, boating, trucking, tenting, structural and medical industries. The term "marine canvas" is also used more narrowly to refer specially to boat cover products.
Griffon Hoverwork Ltd (GHL) is a British hovercraft designer and manufacturer.
The Heinkel He 59 was a twin-engined German biplane designed in 1930, resulting from a requirement for a torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft able to operate on wheeled landing gear or twin-floats.
The Moses Mabhida Stadium is a soccer stadium in Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, named after Moses Mabhida, a former General Secretary of the South African Communist Party. It is a multi-use stadium. The stadium became a venue for several events, like bungee jumping, concerts, cricket, soccer, golf practice, motorsports and rugby union.
A cricket field is a large grass field on which the game of cricket is played. Although generally oval in shape, there is a wide variety within this: some are almost perfect circles, some elongated ovals and some entirely irregular shapes with little or no symmetry – but they will have entirely curved boundaries, almost without exception. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter usually varies between 450 and 500 feet for men's cricket, and between 360 feet (110 m) and 420 feet (130 m) for women's cricket. Cricket is unusual among major sports in that there is no official rule for a fixed-shape ground for professional games. On most grounds, a rope demarcates the perimeter of the field and is known as the boundary.
A technical textile is a textile product manufactured for non-aesthetic purposes, where function is the primary criterion. Technical textiles include textiles for automotive applications, medical textiles, geotextiles, agrotextiles, and protective clothing.
A cricket pavilion is a pavilion at a cricket ground. It is the main building within which the players usually change in dressing rooms and which is the main location for watching the cricket match for members and others. Pavilions can vary from modest and purely practical buildings at small venues to large and imposing edifices at some of the historic grounds where Test cricket is played.
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium is a cricket stadium situated in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It is located beside the Pune Mumbai expressway in Pune district.
The Brumbrella was a large pitch covering used at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham, England from 1981 to 2001. Its name is a portmanteau word derived from "Brum"—a nickname for Birmingham, reflecting its location—and "umbrella", reflecting its function in protecting the pitch from rain.
In cricket, a ground is a location where cricket matches are played, comprising a cricket field, cricket pavilion and any associated buildings and amenities.