Bristol County Ground

The Bristol County Ground (also known as Nevil Road and currently known as the Seat Unique Stadium for sponsorship reasons[2]) is a senior cricket venue in Bristol, England. It is in the district of Ashley Down. The ground is home to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.

Bristol County Ground
Fry's Ground, Nevil Road
Ground information
LocationAshley Down, Bristol
Coordinates51°28′38.01″N 2°35′02.96″W
Establishment1889
Capacity8,000
17,500 for internationals[1]
End names
Ashley Down Road End
Bristol Pavilion End
International information
First ODI13 June 1983:
 New Zealand v  Sri Lanka
Last ODI26 September 2023:
 England v  Ireland
First T20I28 August 2006:
 England v  Pakistan
Last T20I27 July 2022:
 England v  South Africa
Only women's Test16–19 June 2021:
 England v  India
First WODI21 July 1984:
 England v  New Zealand
Last WODI12 July 2023:
 England v  Australia
First WT20I25 June 2011:
 England v  Australia
Last WT20I15 September 2022:
 England v  India
Team information
Gloucestershire (1889 – present)
As of 18 July 2022
Source: CricInfo

History

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.

The ground hosts One Day Internationals, usually one per year, with the addition of temporary seating to increase the ground's capacity. England faced India in 2018 and Pakistan in 2019 at the ground. In addition, three matches were scheduled to be played at the ground as part of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[3] Of these three, 2 were abandoned without a ball being bowled due to bad weather. The only match played was Australia v Afghanistan - a match Australia won by 7 wickets.

The ground has long boundaries in comparison to most county cricket clubs.

The former concrete roof over the public terraces, which has now been demolished, was formed from eight hyperbolic-paraboloid umbrellas each approximately 30 square feet (2.8 m2), designed by T.H.B. Burrough in 1960.[4]

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.[5][6] The ground now includes a world class media centre and conference facilities. To help fund the project, student accommodation is included in the development. In March 2010, Bristol City Council gave the go-ahead for the new ground.[7]

The following year, the club revised its plans due to concerns from residents on the adjacent Kennington Avenue over permanent stands at the boundary of their property. The permanent capacity will now be raised to 7,500 (8,000 including the semi-permanent Hammond Roof) with temporary seating increasing capacity to 17,500,[8] 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 4,500) and 147 apartments in three blocks. These plans were approved on 31 May 2012 and development began in October 2012. The Bristol Pavilion opened in August 2013.[9] Permanent floodlights were approved by Bristol City Council in April 2015, which were installed ready for the start of the 2016 season and which will allow the club to continue to host international matches as well as the four 2019 Cricket World Cup matches it has been allocated.[10]

Panorama of the County Ground in 2018 looking toward the pavilion

Transport connections

Montpelier railway station is under 1 mile (1.6 km) from the ground. Mainline stations Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway are 2.5 miles (4.0 km) and 3.8 miles (6.1 km), respectively, from the ground. Former station Ashley Hill was situated outside the ground but was closed in 1964. The station is due to reopen as Ashley Down in 2024 with construction commencing in March 2023.[11]

International centuries

One-Day International centuries

The following table summarises the One-Day International centuries scored at Bristol County Ground.[12]

No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsOpposing teamDateResult
1140*Sachin Tendulkar (1/2) India 101 Kenya23 May 1999Won
2104*Rahul Dravid India 109 Kenya23 May 1999Won
3102Ricky Ponting Australia 101 England10 June 2001Won
4113Sachin Tendulkar (2/2) India 101 Sri Lanka11 July 2002Won
5106Andrew Flintoff England 121 New Zealand4 July 2004Lost
6102Moeen Ali England 57 West Indies24 September 2017Won
7151Imam-ul-Haq Pakistan 131 England14 May 2019Lost
8128Jonny Bairstow England 93 Pakistan14 May 2019Won

T20 International centuries

There has only been one T20 International century at this venue.[13]

No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsOpposing teamDateResult
1100*Rohit Sharma India 56 England8 July 2018Won

Women's One-Day International centuries

The following table summarises the women's One-Day International centuries scored at Bristol County Ground[14]

No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsOpposing teamDateResult
1 104 Meg Lanning (1/2)  Australia 98  England 23 July 2015 Won
2 106* Suzie Bates  New Zealand 109  Sri Lanka 24 June 2017 Won
3 178* Chamari Atapattu  Sri Lanka 143  Australia 29 June 2017 Lost
4 152* Meg Lanning (2/2)  Australia 135  Sri Lanka 29 June 2017 Won
5 147 Sarah Taylor  England 104  South Africa 5 July 2017 Won
6 148 Tammy Beaumont  England 145  South Africa 5 July 2017 Won
7 106 Poonam Raut  India 136  Australia 12 July 2017 Lost
8 107 Sophia Dunkley  England 93  South Africa 15 July 2022 Won

See also

References
  1. "The many shapes of England's cricket stadiums". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  2. "Gloucestershire's Bristol home renamed as Seat Unique Stadium after signing historic Ground Naming Rights deal". Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. 8 March 2022.
  3. "ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 schedule announced". ICC. 14 June 2019.
  4. Burrough, THB (1970). Bristol. London: Studio Vista. ISBN 0-289-79804-3.
  5. "Cricket ground's future unveiled". BBC Bristol Sports. BBC News. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  6. "Club Statement to Members". Gloucestershire Cricket. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  7. "Go-ahead to expand cricket club". BBC News. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  8. "Gloucestershire County Cricket Club alters ground plans". BBC West. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  9. "Grounds for Celebration". Venue. Bristol. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  10. "Floodlight planning application approved". Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  11. "New Ashley Down railway station construction gets under way". BBC News. 7 March 2023.
  12. "County Ground, Bristol / Records / One-Day Internationals / High scores". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  13. "High scores in T20I at Bristol".
  14. "Batting records | Women's One-Day Internationals | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
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