Grace Road

Grace Road, known for sponsorship reasons as the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road,[1] is a cricket ground in Leicester, England. It is the home ground and administrative base of Leicestershire County Cricket Club.

Grace Road
The Pavilion at Grace Road
Ground information
LocationLeicester, England
Establishment1878
Capacity6,000 cricket matches / 19,999 music concerts
End names
Pavilion End
Bennett End
International information
First ODI11 June 1983:
 India v  Zimbabwe
Last ODI27 May 1999:
 Scotland v  West Indies
Only women's Test8–12 August 2006:
 England v  India
First WODI30 June 1984:
 England v  New Zealand
Last WODI14 September 2023:
 England v  Sri Lanka
Team information
Leicestershire (1894 present)
As of 21 September 2021
Source: CricketArchive

History

The Bennett End of the ground
The Meet (right)

Leicestershire County Cricket Club bought in 1877 the land on which Grace Road now stands from the then Duke of Rutland, and spent the massive sum of £40,000 on developing a cricket club, athletic track and hotel.[2] The first match played there took place three months later, when Leicestershire played a touring Australia team. Contrary to popular belief, the road was named after Grace Margaret Yearby, the daughter of a local property owner Edward John Yearby, not W. G. Grace.

Leicestershire CCC left the Grace Road site in 1901, owing to low attendances at matches, which were blamed on lack of public transport to the ground.[3] The club moved to a site near to Aylestone Road in order to be closer to the city centre. Leicestershire eventually returned to Grace Road in 1946, after the end of the Second World War,[4] and has been based there ever since, re-purchasing the land in 1966.

The record attendance, at Leicestershire's match against the touring 1948 Australians, is 16,000.

International cricket

Three One Day Internationals have been played at Grace Road, although none has involved the England team.

In the 1983 Cricket World Cup eventual winners India, chasing a target of 156, beat Zimbabwe by five wickets.[5] The second and third games were both in the 1999 World Cup. In the second Zimbabwe beat India by three runs,[6] and in the third the West Indies beat Scotland by eight wickets.[7]

International centuries

Women's Test centuries

One WTest century has been scored at the venue.[8]

No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsOpposing teamInningsDateResult
1115Claire Taylor England 233 India38 August 2006Drawn

Women's One-Day International centuries

Seven WODI centuries have been scored at the venue.[9]

No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsOpposing teamInningsDateResult
1106Heather Knight England 109 Pakistan127 June 2017Won
2137Natalie Sciver (1/2) England 92 Pakistan127 June 2017Won
3104*Deandra Dottin West Indies 76 Pakistan111 July 2017Won
4117*Sophie Devine New Zealand 116 England213 July 2018Won
5114Tammy Beaumont (1/2) England 115 Australia14 July 2019Lost
6119Tammy Beaumont (2/2) England 107 South Africa118 July 2022Won
7120Nat Sciver-Brunt (2/2) England 74 Sri Lanka114 September 2023Won

Dimensions

In front of the wicket at both ends the pitch is measured at 63 metres, while square of the wicket on both sides the dimensions are recorded as 76 metres. This is the largest county ground including England's major international venues such as the Oval.

See also

References

52°36′28.13″N 1°08′33.67″W

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