Trent Bridge

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This article is about Test Cricket ground in Nottingham. For the adjacent river crossing, see Trent Bridge (bridge) .

Ground information
Trent Bridge


England
Location	West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England
Establishment	1830's
Seating capacity	17,500
Tenants	Nottinghamshire
End names	Pavilion End Radcliffe Road End
International information
First Test	3 June 1899: England v Australia
Last Test	June 2008: England v New Zealand
First ODI	31 August 1974: England v Pakistan
Last ODI	7 July 2007: England v West Indies
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1840 – present	Nottinghamshire
As of 15 December 2007 Source: CricketArchive

The pavilion during a County Championship match.

Trent Bridge circa 1890.

Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of the Twenty20 Cup twice. The site is located very close to the main bridge over the River Trent and also close to the football stadia of Nottingham Forest and Notts County.

1 History
2 Ground
3 Competition for International cricket
4 Test match records
5 Football
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] History

Trent Bridge was first used as a cricket ground in the 1830s. The first recorded cricket match was held on an area of ground behind the Trent Bridge Inn in 1838. Trent Bridge hosted its first Test match in 1899, for England playing against Australia.

The ground was first opened in 1841 by William Clarke, husband of the proprietress of the Trent Bridge Inn and himself Captain of the All England Cricket Team. He was commemorated in 1990 by the opening of the new William Clarke Stand which incorporates the Rushcliffe Suite. The West Park Sports Ground in West Bridgford was the private ground of Sir Julien Cahn, a furniture millionaire, who often played host to touring national sides.

[edit] Ground

Trent Bridge is considered to be one of the best grounds in the world to watch cricket.^{[citation needed]} Trent Bridge's serene pavilion, kept within the architectural parameters of its 1889 foundation, is thought of as one of the most renowned trademarks of cricket.^{[citation needed]} Recent developments include the £7.2 million Radcliffe Road Cricket Centre, opened in 1998 and the state of the art £1.9 million Fox Road stand, which has received awards for its architectural excellence.^{[citation needed]} The latter includes a modernistic aircraft-wing roof and was opened in 2002 despite a conflict with a small group of local residents over the lack of sunlight that this would cause to their properties.^{[citation needed]} Some consider the only downside to the ground to be the tower block next to the Radcliffe Road stand which was built on a plot of land leased to the County Council since the 1960s.^{[citation needed]}

Commencing in 2007, Trent Bridge has undergone redevelopment with the construction of a new stand to replace the Parr Stand and West Wing and the addition of one to five rows of extra seating at the front of several of the other stands.^[1] This will increase capacity from 15,358 to more than 17,000, and the work has been completed in time for the 2008 test match against New Zealand. The stand was officially opened on the 5^th of June by Prince Philip. ^[2]

Bowling takes place from the Pavilion End and the Radcliffe Road End, with the wickets laid square of the Fox Road, William Clarke and Parr stands.

[edit] Competition for International cricket

Despite being a regular Test match venue in the past, Trent Bridge faces competition from the increasing number of grounds wishing to host Test cricket in England and Wales. For example, Trent Bridge will not be hosting a Test match in the 2009 Ashes series. Trent Bridge is somewhat disadvantaged by its relatively low seating capacity of 15,000. In a bid to retain Test and One-day cricket at Trent Bridge, the planned new stand will increase the capacity of the ground to 17,500, as well as making other improvements such as the addition of permanent floodlights and an electronic scoreboard.^[1]. However it is one of three grounds (along with the The Oval and Lord's) scheduled to host the twenty20 world cup in 2009 [1].

[edit] Test match records

In Test matches held at Trent Bridge, the highest team total is 658 for 8 declared, scored by England against Australia in 1938. The lowest team total is 88, scored by South Africa against England in 1960. Denis Compton scored 278 against Pakistan in 1954, and Bernard Bosanquet (the bowler who first developed the googly) took 8/107 for England against Australia in 1905. The highest opening partership on this ground was by Dinesh Kartik and Wasim Jaffer with a score of 147. Sachin Tendulkar also passed the 11,000 run mark in the nPower 2nd Test on Trent Bridge.

Rain clouds at Trent Bridge during the Ashes series 2005

'Freddie' Flintoff reaches 100 in front of the Fox Road Stand

Fans celebrate in the William Clarke Stand, with England 4 runs from winning

The new Floodlights

[edit] Football

Trent Bridge has a history of hosting football matches. Notts County Football Club played their important games at the ground from the 1860s, and moved there permanently in 1883 when Nottingham Forest left. Unfortunately for the football team, games early and late in the season had to be played elsewhere due to the cricket and Notts County finally left in 1910.

Trent Bridge even hosted an international match, England beating Ireland 6-0 on February 20, 1897.