County Cricket Ground, Hove

Coordinates: 50°49′48″N 0°09′51″W / 50.83000°N 0.16417°W / 50.83000; -0.16417

1st Central County Ground
Ground information
Location Hove, East Sussex
Establishment 1872
Capacity 7,000
End names
Cromwell Road End
Sea End
International information
Only ODI 15 May 1999:
 India v  South Africa
Team information
Sussex (1872 – present)
As of 2013
Source: CricketArchive

The County Cricket Ground, also known as the 1st Central County Ground for sponsorship reasons,[1] is a cricket venue in Hove, East Sussex, England. The County Ground is the home of Sussex County Cricket Club, where most Sussex home matches since 1872 have been played, although many other grounds in Sussex have been used. Sussex CCC continue to play some of their games away from The County Ground, at either Arundel Castle and Horsham. It is one of the few county grounds to have deckchairs for spectators, in the Sussex CCC colours of blue and white,[2] and was the first cricket ground to install permanent floodlights, for Day/night cricket matches (and the second ground after Edgbaston) to host a day/night match in England, in 1997.[3]

Cricket history

Prior to 1872, Sussex County Cricket Club played their home matches at Royal Brunswick Ground. The land for the County Ground was a barley field until it was bought in 1871. The turf from the Royal Brunswick Ground was then brought to the County Ground, which became the home of Sussex CCC in 1872, and continues to be so.[4]

In 1872, George "Farmer" Bennett became the first batsman in first-class cricket to be given out handled ball during a match between Kent and Sussex at the County Ground.[5] In 1873, Sussex bowled Worcestershire out for 19 at Hove.[6] In 1884–85, the public raised £4,400 towards the purchase of the ground, with the Earl of Sheffield contributing an additional £600.[7] In the 20th century, the ground was used for some other cricket matches, such as a charity match in 1927 between the "Jockeys" and the "Racing Press", in aid of the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital for children,[8] and an annual match between local commercial travellers and grocers, nicknamed "Travellers v. Grocers"; in 1925, the match was won by the Travellers by 1 run.[9]

The ground has hosted one men's One Day International;[4] the match was part of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, and was a Group A match between South Africa and India, which South Africa won by 4 wickets.[10] The County Ground has also hosted 2 Test matches in The Women's Ashes in 1987 and 2005;[11] in addition, the ground hosted two One Day Internationals in the 2013 Women's Ashes,[12] and in August 2015, is scheduled to host a Twenty20 International as part of the 2015 Women's Ashes.[13] As of July 2015, 5 Women's ODIs and 3 Women's T20Is have been hosted at the ground.[14][15]

In 2003, The County Ground was the venue where Sussex won their first County Championship title. In that match, Sussex batsman Murray Goodwin also scored 335*, which was then highest score by a Sussex player in first-class cricket.[lower-alpha 1][18] The ground also saw Sussex win their third Championship title in 2007.[lower-alpha 2][20]

Non-cricket history

During the 1890s, the County Ground was also used as a football ground for teams from the Brighton Area, including Brighton United of the Southern League (until they went bust in 1900),[21] and Brighton Athletic of the East Sussex League.[22][23] The ground was also the venue for the Sussex lawn tennis championship meetings in 1893[24] and 1899,[25] and in 1948, the County Ground also hosted a rugby union match between Brighton and a Midland Bank team.[26]

Many concerts have been held at the County Ground. Elton John has played at the ground in 2006 and 2011,[27] and in 2015, the ground hosted a concert by Madness.[28] The ground has also hosted a concert by Cliff Richard.[28] As part of the London 2012 Olympic torch relay, the ground hosted an official Olympic torch event.[29][30] For many years, the County Ground hosted an annual fireworks display for Guy Fawkes Night, which attracted over 5,000 people in 2013;[31] however the event was cancelled in 2014, as the ground was having extensive renovations made to its outfield.[31][32]

Notes

  1. ↑ As of 2015, the highest score by a Sussex batsman is now 344, scored by Goodwin at Taunton in 2009.[16][17]
  2. ↑ Sussex's second title was won in 2006 at Trent Bridge.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Sussex announce new ground name; ‘The 1st Central County Ground, Hove’". Sussex County Cricket Club. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Thomson, Sam (16 April 2009). "New Sussex cricket ground plans unveiled". The Argus. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  3. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/822174.stm
  4. 1 2 "County Ground". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Donnelley, Paul (2010). Firsts, Lasts & Onlys of Cricket: Presenting the most amazing cricket facts from the last 500 years. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Stern, John; Williams, Marcus (2013). The Essential Wisden: An Anthology of 150 Years of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. pp. 768–769. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Cricket". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 30 December 1884. p. 8. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  8. ↑ "Otter Hounds". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 13 July 1927. p. 20. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  9. ↑ "Travellers v. Grocers.". Portsmouth Evening News. 5 June 1925. p. 4. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  10. ↑ "ICC World Cup, 2nd Match: India v South Africa at Hove, May 15, 1999". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  12. ↑ "2013 Women's Ashes Series – Format". ecb.co.uk.
  13. ↑ "Women’s Ashes Series schedule". ecb.co.uk.
  14. ↑ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  15. ↑ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  16. ↑ "Goodwin breaks records at Taunton". BBC Sport. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  17. ↑ "HIGHEST TEAM TOTALS FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Cricket – Sussex win title". BBC. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "Cricket – Counties – Mushtaq seals Sussex title glory". BBC. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  20. ↑ "Lancashire go down fighting as Sussex secure title". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  21. ↑ "Football". Sussex Agricultural Express. 19 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  22. ↑ "East Sussex League". Sussex Agricultural Express. 21 January 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  23. ↑ "Football". Sussex Agricultural Express. 11 January 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  24. ↑ "Lawn Tennis". London Evening Standard. 9 September 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  25. ↑ "Lawn Tennis". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 11 September 1899. p. 8. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  26. ↑ "Brighton and Hove: What's on in Sport". Sussex Agricultural Express. 30 January 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (Subscription required (help)).
  27. ↑ http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9106888.Elton_John_rocks_Hove/?ref=mmsp
  28. 1 2 "Madness announce their biggest city show to date at Hove's County Ground". The Argus.
  29. ↑ "New Brighton and Hove route for Olympic torch". The Argus.
  30. ↑ "London 2012: Brighton Olympic torch party moved from seafront". BBC News.
  31. 1 2 "Brighton and Hove's biggest firework display at risk of being cancelled". The Argus.
  32. ↑ "Brighton and Hove News » Brighton and Hove’s biggest fireworks display cancelled". brightonandhovenews.org.

See also

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