County Cricket Ground, Bristol

County Ground

Ground information
Location	Nevil Road, Ashley Down, Bristol
Establishment	1889
Capacity	8,000 17,000 for internationals
End names
Pavilion End Ashley Down Road End
International information
First ODI	13 June 1983: New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	10 July 2010: England v Bangladesh
Domestic team information
Gloucestershire (1889 – present)
As of 10 March 2010 Source: CricketArchive

The County Cricket Ground (also known as Nevil Road) is a cricket venue in Bristol, England. It is in the district of Ashley Down. The ground is home to the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.

Initially known as Ashley Down Ground, it was bought in 1889 by W. G. Grace and has been home to Gloucestershire ever since. It was sold to local confectionery firm J. S. Fry & Sons and renamed Fry's Ground. The club bought the ground back in 1933 and it reverted to its original name. It was sold again in 1976, this time to Royal & Sun Alliance who renamed the ground the Phoenix County Ground for eight years before changing to The Royal & Sun Alliance County Ground until the ground was again bought by the club and took it up its current title.

While the ground is steeped in character, it also has the feel of an ageing ground, especially as cricket sees its popularity grow due to the continued success of Twenty20 cricket. Despite this, the ground does host One Day Internationals, usually one per year, with the addition of temporary seating to double the ground's capacity. Day–night matches are possible with the addition of temporary floodlights. The ground has long boundaries in comparison to most county cricket clubs; however, these become some of the shortest with the addition of temporary seating for One Day Internationals.

The concrete roof over the public terraces is formed from eight hyperbolic-paraboloid umbrellas each approximately 30 ft square, designed by T.H.B. Burrough in 1960.^[1]

Within the ground are tennis and squash courts as well as a gym, which is available to the public.

Redevelopment

In July 2009, Gloucestershire C.C.C. announced plans to redevelop the ground into a 20,000-capacity stadium, with an aim to retaining one day international status.^[2][3] The ground will also include a "world class" media centre and conference facilities. The public gym would be upgraded with the addition of a swimming pool. To help fund the project, accommodation for 350 students will be included in the development.

In March 2010, Bristol City Council gave the go-ahead for the new ground.^[4] The revised scheme will raise the permanent capacity to 17,500 seats,^[5] which the club hope will make it a regular venue for international matches, and one of the host grounds of the 2019 Cricket World Cup. However, due to concerns over housing, the permanent capacity will now be raised to just 7500 (8000 including the semi-permanent Hammond Roof), but with other changes still implemented: new pavilion, new conference facilities and the construction of new stands (including the demolition of the Jessop stand and Tavern and the rebuilding of the Mound stand to a fixed capacity of 4500) and a 147 flat building. These plans were approved on 31 May 2012. Floodlights are currently not part of these proposals; however, it is likely that permanent floodlights will be built in order for the club to compete for floodlit One Day Internationals.^[6] Development began in October 2012. The Bristol Pavilion opened in August 2013.^[7]

See also

• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales

References

Coordinates: 51°28′38.01″N 2°35′02.96″W / 51.4772250°N 2.5841556°W / 51.4772250; -2.5841556