Location Crystal Palace, London Establishment 1857 | Capacity 10,000 | |
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Similar Crystal Palace Park, The Crystal Palace, London Butterfly House, Arnos Grove tube station, St Sepulchre | ||
Crystal Palace Park Cricket Ground was a cricket ground in Crystal Palace, London (formerly Kent) which was located in Crystal Palace Park in the shadow of The Crystal Palace. The ground was established on June 3, 1857. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1864, when Kent played Nottinghamshire in the grounds first first-class match. From 1869 to 1870, Kent played four further first-class matches at the ground, with their final match there coming against Sussex.
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Return of first-class cricket
Ten years would pass before first-class cricket returned to Crystal Palace, when in 1880 the Players played the Australians during their tour of England. A further eight years elapsed from that match to the next first-class match at the ground, which came in 1888 when an England XI played the Australians during their tour of England, with three further first-class matches on the ground from 1880 to 1900, which included CE de Trafford's XI playing the Australians in 1896, the South playing the Australians in 1899 and WG Grace's XI.
In 1898, the Crystal Palace Company formed London County Cricket Club, with help from W.G. Grace who they invited to form the club with. Grace accepted the offer and became the club's secretary, manager and captain, thereby ending a 29-year association with Gloucestershire. London County played their first first-class match at the ground in 1900, when they played Surrey. From 1900 to 1904, London County played 34 first-class matches at the ground, the last of which saw them play Warwickshire. The increase in the importance of the County Championship, Grace's own inevitable decline in form and the lack of a competitive element in the matches led to a decline in attendances and consequently meant the team lost money, with the club winding up in 1908.
Final years
The final first-class match played by London County at the ground in 1904 did not spell the end of first-class cricket at the ground. The Gentlemen of England played 3 first-class matches there in 1905 against the Australians, the West Indians and Cambridge University. The final first-class match held at the ground came 1906, when WG Grace's XI played Cambridge University.
The site today is covered by the National Sports Centre, which was built in 1964.