Grace Road
 The Pavilion at Grace Road | |||
 Interactive map of Grace Road | |||
| Ground information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Leicester, England | ||
| Country | England | ||
| Establishment | 1878 | ||
| Capacity | 6,000 cricket matches / 19,999 music concerts | ||
| End names | |||
Pavilion End  Bennett End | |||
| International information | |||
| First men's ODI | 11 June 1983: India v  Zimbabwe | ||
| Last men's ODI | 27 May 1999: Scotland v  West Indies | ||
| Only women's Test | 8–12 August 2006: England v India | ||
| First women's ODI | 30 June 1984: England v  New Zealand | ||
| Last women's ODI | 1 September 2026: England v  Ireland | ||
| Team information | |||
| |||
| As of 1 September 2026 Source: CricketArchive | |||
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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.
History
[edit]
The previous centre of cricket in Leicester had been at Victoria Park, where informal Leicestershire representative sides played. Costs associated with enclosing an open park proved costly, requiring a permanent home for cricket in the city.
In 1877, Leicestershire County Cricket Club bought 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 road was named after Grace Margaret Yearby, the daughter of a local property owner Edward John Yearby, not W. G. Grace.
This ground held its first cricket match in 1878, when Leicestershire played a touring Australia team.
Having gained first-class status in 1895, Leicestershire played at Grace Road only until 1900.
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 on 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], re-purchasing the land in 1966.
Leicestershire removed the main stand from Aylestone Road in 1952–53 and reconstructed it at Grace Road, initially naming it the Richards Stand, before settling on its current name The Meet.[5]
The record attendance, at Leicestershire's match against the touring 1948 Australians, is 16,000.
International cricket
[edit]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.[6] The second and third games were both in the 1999 World Cup. In the second Zimbabwe beat India by three runs,[7] and in the third the West Indies beat Scotland by eight wickets.[8]
International centuries
[edit]Women's Test centuries
[edit]One WTest century has been scored at the venue.[9]
| No. | Score | Player | Team | Balls | Opposing team | Innings | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 115 | Claire Taylor | England | 233 | India | 3 | 8 August 2006 | Drawn |
Women's One-Day International centuries
[edit]Eight WODI centuries have been scored at the venue.[10]
| No. | Score | Player | Team | Balls | Opposing team | Innings | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 106 | Heather Knight | England | 109 |  Pakistan | 1 | 27 June 2017 | Won |
| 2 | 137 | Natalie Sciver (1/2) | England | 92 | Pakistan | 1 | 27 June 2017 | Won |
| 3 | 104* | Deandra Dottin | West Indies | 76 | Pakistan | 1 | 11 July 2017 | Won |
| 4 | 117* | Sophie Devine | New Zealand | 116 | England | 2 | 13 July 2018 | Won |
| 5 | 114 | Tammy Beaumont (1/2) | England | 115 |  Australia | 1 | 4 July 2019 | Lost |
| 6 | 119 | Tammy Beaumont (2/2) | England | 107 |  South Africa | 1 | 18 July 2022 | Won |
| 7 | 120 | Nat Sciver-Brunt (2/2) | England | 74 |  Sri Lanka | 1 | 14 September 2023 | Won |
| 8 | 104 | Maia Bouchier | England | 95 | Ireland | 2 | 1 September 2026 | Won |
Dimensions
[edit]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
[edit]References
[edit]
- ↑ "Leicestershire CCC".
- ↑ Grounds - Grace Road, Leicester
- ↑ "History of Leicestershire". Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
- ↑ Main Developments at Grace Road 1878-2007 Archived 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Developments at Grace Road". www.leicestershireccc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ↑ India v Zimbabwe 1983
- ↑ India v Zimbabwe 1999 Deprecated link archived 2012-09-19 at archive.today
- ↑ Scotland v West Indies 1999
- ↑ "Statistics / Statsguru / Women's Test Matches / Batting records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ↑ "Statistics / Statsguru / Women's One-Day International Matches / Batting records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
