Location Hove, East Sussex Capacity 7,000 | Establishment 1872 Phone +44 1273 827126 | |
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Only ODI 15 May 1999:
India v South Africa Address County Ground, Eaton Rd, Hove BN3 3AN, United Kingdom Similar County Cricket Ground, County Ground - Taunton, St Lawrence Ground, County Cricket Ground, Bristol County Ground Profiles | ||
The County Cricket Ground, also known as the 1st Central County Ground for sponsorship reasons, 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, 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.
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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.
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. In 1873, Sussex bowled Worcestershire out for 19 at Hove. In 1884–85, the public raised £4,400 towards the purchase of the ground, with the Earl of Sheffield contributing an additional £600. 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, 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.
The ground has hosted one men's One Day International; 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. The County Ground has also hosted 2 Test matches in The Women's Ashes in 1987 and 2005; in addition, the ground hosted two One Day Internationals in the 2013 Women's Ashes, and in August 2015, is scheduled to host a Twenty20 International as part of the 2015 Women's Ashes. As of July 2015, 5 Women's ODIs and 3 Women's T20Is have been hosted at the ground.
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. The ground also saw Sussex win their third Championship title in 2007.
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), and Brighton Athletic of the East Sussex League. The ground was also the venue for the Sussex lawn tennis championship meetings in 1893 and 1899, and in 1948, the County Ground also hosted a rugby union match between Brighton and a Midland Bank team.
Many concerts have been held at the County Ground. Elton John has played at the ground in 2006 and 2011, and in 2015, the ground hosted a concert by Madness. The ground has also hosted a concert by Cliff Richard. As part of the London 2012 Olympic torch relay, the ground hosted an official Olympic torch event. For many years, the County Ground hosted an annual fireworks display for Guy Fawkes Night, which attracted over 5,000 people in 2013; however the event was cancelled in 2014, as the ground was having extensive renovations made to its outfield.