Trent Bridge has got it covered

Notts CCC Media Release

January 8, 2001

Notts are to invest more than £100,000 to provide Trent Bridge with one of the most extensive ground covering systems in world cricket.

Following one of the wettest summers on record, ground staff at Trent Bridge are currently preparing to take delivery of two huge, automated outfield covers and a water clearing "Whale" vehicle.

The massive Matchsaver sheets will be installed in time for the new season and used in conjunction with the current wheeled covers to ensure the vast majority of the playing surface will be kept dry in the event of rain.

The remote-controlled sheets are kept on motorised rollers and will be housed in covered trenches at the edge of the field.

Hydraulic lifts raise the covers to pitch level and the rollers are driven across the surface unfurling the massive sheets - which measure 45m by 130m - behind them.

Once the rain has stopped the rollers travel back across the field into the trench and the water captured on the sheets is dispersed through drains in the bottom of the trenches.

Covers manufactured by the Bristol-based firm have been used by Gloucestershire and Somerset for the past two seasons and are also due to be fitted at Edgbaston.

Notts head groundsman Steve Birks said: "The sheets will cover around 85 % of the Trent Bridge outfield and should take around five minutes to fully unroll.

"They will be used for all games at the ground and should save a vast amount of cricket time because as soon as the rain stops, the covers are off and play can start again almost immediately.

"They also have the advantage of being housed underground protecting them from being punctured and ruined by players running across them in spikes.

"We have decided to retain the raised covers on the square as they not only provide the best protection for the ground but also enable Trent Bridge to continue to provide some of the best pitches in world cricket."

The ground's water-clearing capabilities have also been vastly increased by the sponge-rollered Whale machine that has been flown in from Australia. It will remove excess water from the covering sheets to ensure the soonest possible restart.

© Cricinfo