New Hover Cover at The Home of Cricket

Stuart Canvas has installed a new Hover Cover at the home of Cricket, 20 years after installing the original Hover Cover.

The Hover Cover was originally developed in 1999 by Stuart Canvas and it made its first appearance at Lords the following year, after 20 years of service the original Lords Hover Cover is being replaced by an updated design. Each Hover Cover is tailor-made to each cricket grounds own requirement, dimensions are adjustable dependent on the cricket pitch. The average dimensions are 80ft-105ft long and 15ft wide.

 “ Lord’s is a special place for all cricket fans and players, it was a great honour when the Hover Cover made its debut over 20 year ago at the venue, the pride is the same today as a brand new Hover Cover is installed at the Home of Cricket.  The Cover will help Head Groundsman Karl McDermott and his team protect the world-class playing surface during both county and international games.’   – Edward Stoddart Chief Executive at Stuart Canvas Group.

Karl McDermott & Edward Stoddart

The Hover Cover is an innovative solution to pitch covering that has revolutionised the way that major cricket ground around the world protect their pitches. The Hover Cover uses the same principle as a hovercraft to float across a cricket pitch into place. This allows the cover to be easily moved in any direction with minimum effort. This unique design eliminates the risk of damage to the playing surface made from transporting traditional heavy covers into place.

The Hover Cover also reduces the time a square can be completely protected from the elements, it can be deployed within three minutes. Traditionally when a cricket game is paused due to rain it would require a large amount of manpower to deploy large test sheet to protect the square. The Hover Cover allows for square covers and inflatable tubes to be carried on the side of the Hover Cover which then can be easily and quickly deployed. Air circulation can also be used to speed up the drying process.

Stuart Canvas Cricket can provide cricket clubs both large and small with a wide range of cricket ground equipment, including flat sheet covers in a variety of sizes and materials, mobile cover, sightscreen, batting cages, electric scoreboards and indoor practice netting facilities.