The Brumbrella was a large pitch covering used at the
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
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 ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
from 1981 to 2001.''Cricket: Spectators conned by embarrassing lack of cover'', Jack Bannister, Birmingham Post, 9 July 2001 Its name is a
portmanteau word
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsBrum"—a nickname for Birmingham, reflecting its location—and "
umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...
", reflecting its function in protecting the pitch from rain.
The Brumbrella was praised and criticised - its speed of deployment helped groundstaff protect the pitch quickly, but as a flat protector, it was prone to "sweating". It was deemed to have contributed to the Edgbaston pitch's deterioration, and its demise was hastened by legislation against flat covers.
It was briefly replaced by "Son of Brumbrella", but today the groundstaff rely on manpower to manoeuvre the covers onto the Edgbaston pitch.
Description
The Brumbrella comprised a flat rainproof covering which was mechanically unrolled across the playing surface to protect the pitch and most of the outfield from rain. The motorised roller was intended to allow the cover to be rapidly deployed in bad weather, and then removed when the weather improved, so play could continue as quickly as possible, but this was not always achieved:
The original mechanism, a large section of
North Sea oil
North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea.
In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and ...
pipeline wrapped with a
tarpaulin
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 ...
and weighing some 6 tons, was installed in the winter of 1980 having been designed by Terry Rutter of Sports Ground Consultants. The £43,380 cost was met by the
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Warwickshire. Its T20 team is called the Birmingham Bears. Founde ...
Supporters' Association.''Cricket: Brumbrella lends county shelter'', Birmingham Post, 21 February 2001 It was first used during a heavy rain shower in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's second
One-day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...
against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
on 6 June 1981.When the surface water had been removed by the roller wrapped cover, Umpire Dickie Bird met cover designer Terry Rutter on the pitch and said "let's get them back on shall we"? It was prone to malfunction once the cover fabric had been changed, notably suffering damage on the first day of the 1990 Edgbaston Test match, which prevented its use for the duration of the five-day match.
Anti-moisture policy
In 1999, the ECB introduced a policy against "flat" covers, which can encourage moisture to sweat out of a damp pitch, making batting more difficult, and opposing captains were given the right to object to its use. The Brumbrella continued in use for a little while longer, but, after 20 years of use, it was replaced in early 2001. Parts were given away to Warwickshire clubs to use as covers, including Moseley Ashfield, and a "massive section" was acquired by Atherstone Town Cricket Club. The Brumbrella was also blamed, in part, for a deterioration in the condition of the Edgbaston pitch.
Replacement
The new mechanism—dubbed "Son of Brumbrella"—cost around £80,000 and was much lighter, weighing only one ton. It had two motorised rollers, housed in trenches on either side of the outfield, and was operated by remote control. However, it proved temperamental in use, and malfunctioned several times. It failed before the first
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
match of the season against
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
on 20–23 April, and a second time on 2 June, during the third day of Warwickshire's third home Championship match against
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
, and the groundstaff returned to manual covers for England's One-day International against
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
on 7 June. However, the groundstaff struggled to deploy and remove manual covers quickly during the rain-affected Ashes Test on 5–8 July 2001. The new Brumbrella was abandoned later that year and returned to its manufacturers, Tildenet, who refunded its cost to Warwickshire.Cricket: Warwicks delay move on cover at Edgbaston, ''
Birmingham Post
The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...
'', 9 January 2002. Edgbaston groundsman Steve Rouse subsequently explained that it became too heavy to use once it was covered with water. Edgbaston now boasts a new rain protection system called a "
hover cover
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 w ...
" based on the
hovercraft
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces.
Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...
principle, that covers the wicket only but also has flaps that roll out on four sides to also protect the rest of the cricket square, as seen live on UK television 7 August 2010, England v Pakistan 2nd test at Edgbaston
Legacy
Since the Brumbrella's demise, Edgbaston officials have been "unable to find a suitable replacement they now have to rely on the fast legged groundsmen." On a
Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
day, Rouse's "normal staff of six rises to around 20, the extra hands principally used for getting the pitch covers on and off quickly."
Despite having been retired in 2001, the Brumbrella remains a point of reference for the efficient covering of cricket pitches:
Derek Pringle
Derek Raymond Pringle (born 18 September 1958) is an English former Test and One Day International cricketer for England, and is now a cricket journalist.
Life and career
Pringle was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His father Donald Pringle, who had ...
in ''The Daily Telegraph'' and
Mike Selvey
Michael Walter William Selvey (born 25 April 1948), known as Mike Selvey, is an English former Test and county cricketer, and now a cricket writer and commentator. Selvey played in three Tests for England in 1976 and 1977. His county cricket co ...
in ''The Guardian'' both favourably compared the efficient performance of the groundstaff at
Kandy
Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
during England's Test match against
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...