As England, and, for the first time Wales, host the Australians for another exciting Ashes summer series, Pitchcare goes behind the scenes at Stuart Canvas to find more about the Hover Covers that are becoming an everyday fixture at many of the leading Ashes test grounds
IT’S LESS BOVVER!
protect Premier and lower league football pitches from frost, the immaculate lawns of Wimbledon from rain, or even Manchester United’s players as they run out to the pitch. The company manufactures a full spectrum
O
of covers ranging from a one square metre cover for a bespoke barbecue to a 150,000 square metre cover for horse race tracks - all of which are designed and manufactured at its 15,000 sq ft site. The company also owns the patent for the hover cover which remains one of the company’s flagship products. But where did the idea of a hover cover come
from? Ed Stoddart, Chief Executive at Stuart Canvas, gives a little insight. “The hover cover took us more than four years of research and development to get the design and
ur journey began at the headquarters of Stuart Canvas in Warrington where all manner of covers are made, whether to
manufacture right. The current model operates in a similar way to a hovercraft as it uses engines to blow air under the covers, is constructed using specialised lightweight materials and is very manoeuvrable.” The first cover was “hovered out” over ten
years ago at Lord’s, in 1998, and immediately brought improvements by reducing the amount of playing time lost to rain. It enabled the groundstaff to cover the pitch and square in less than five minutes, whilst the unique airflow system helped dry the pitch as well as reducing the manpower needed to manoeuvre the cover in place. Today, five of the leading test grounds - Lord’s, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Glamorgan and Old Trafford - are all using the hover cover, but what makes them so special and what is their potential reach in cricket? “The groundsmen we work with love the
double benefit of the air flow system that is integral to the cover, as it makes their life easier when wanting to cover an area, as the hover action is much quicker and easier to manoeuvre” said Ed. “The air flow system means that the covers
literally hover over the ground and do not leave wheel marks when moved around. In addition, its manoeuvrability means that it could also be moved sideways and lengthways easily, on and off the pitch, to assist work during showery days.”
Bringing these covers to market is no easy
task. Despite the research and development involved, the delivery of a ground cover that can range from between 80 and 100 feet long and 15 feet wide, poses both logistical and assembly challenges. The aluminium parts are delivered by lorry and are assembled by a team of five
What do you do in your spare time?
For most of us, if and when we have any spare time, it is spent with the family, getting on with that overdue DIY project or the real chore of cutting the lawn.
Report by Dave Saltman O
n a recent business trip to Portugal, I was treated to a real ‘behind the scenes’ look at Portuguese culture. I shared an
afternoon and evening with a group of greenkeepers, who were partaking of their favourite hobby - traditional bullfighting. In Portugal, bullfighting is a real family tradition and differs from the Spanish sport, the raison d’etre being that the bulls have to be literally stopped in full charge by a team of eight forcados, in something that resembles a rugby scrum. A forcado is a member of the team that performs the pega de caras (face catch), the final event in a typical Portuguese bullfight. The bulls are not slaughtered in the ring. My host was Nuno Sepulveda of Aeragolfe Contractors, himself a forcado for six years and, on this particular afternoon, we were going to watch his youngest brother, Luis, and three of his cousins taking part in six fights. All four are currently working on a golf course construction just north of Porto. Prior to the forcados appearing, a cavaleiro
on horseback taunts the bull and rides around inviting the bull to charge. His job is to tire the
bull, but he does aim to stick 3-4 small arrowed spears in the back of the bull, behind its neck. Once his job is done the forcados enter the ring and line up one behind each other, so the bull only sees the first man in his line of sight. As the lead man moves slowly towards the bull, the rest edge nervously forward. The lead man then provokes the bull to charge and, at that moment, the adrenalin of the guys in the ring must be pumping on maximum. With a full half ton of horned bull charging, the lead guy’s job is to grab the head and hope that he can hold on until his mates join the scrum. If he doesn’t, and as happened on this very afternoon, they then don’t always get their own way and people get hurt. Luis was the lead man in the first fight. The bull had been worn down and then the eight forcados entered the ring. As the line edged towards the bull, its head went down and a cloud of dust exploded as it dug its hooves into the dirt and started to gather pace towards the men. It hit Nuno’s brother and tossed him in the air, picked him up again in its horns and flung him at the other guys, before they could even
get close. They
managed to distract the bull long enough to pull him away. To my
amazement he brushed himself down and took his place at the front to start the ritual again. The bull charged again and he was again unable to hold onto the head and was tossed onto the ground, only to be further mauled by the bull. His colleagues again intervened and this time he found himself being helped out of the ring. Word got to us that he was on his way to hospital so, after getting directions to the hospital, Nuno and I persuaded a policeman to take us there.
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