New Road, Worcester

Visit Worcestershire New Road

Ground information
Location	Worcester, Worcestershire, England
Establishment	1896
Capacity	5,500
End names
New Road End Diglis End
International information
First ODI	13 June 1983:   West Indies v   Zimbabwe
Last ODI	22 May 1999:   Sri Lanka v   Zimbabwe
First women's Test	30 June – 3 July 1951:   England v   Australia
Last women's Test	10–13 July 2009:   England v   Australia
First WODI	1 July 2000:   England v   South Africa
Last WODI	19 September 2021:   England v   New Zealand
Only WT20I	23 July 2022:   England v   South Africa
Team information
Worcestershire (1896–present)
As of 23 July 2022 Source: cricinfo

Visit Worcestershire New Road is a cricket ground in the English city of Worcester. The home of Worcestershire County Cricket Club since 1896, it has been rated as one of the world's most beautiful cricket grounds. ^[1]

Overview

The ground is situated in central Worcester, on the west bank of the River Severn, overlooked by Worcester Cathedral on the opposite bank. Immediately to the northwest is a road called New Road, part of the A44, hence the name. To the northwest is Cripplegate Park.

Originally, the freehold to the ground was owned by the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral. In 1896, the leasehold was obtained by club secretary Paul Foley upon payment of a modest rent, ^{[2] [3]} and the first match (against Berkshire) was played there on 28–29 July ^{[4] [5]} of the following year. ^{[6] [7]} At the time, Worcestershire was part of the newly-created Minor Counties Championship, which Foley had been largely responsible in establishing. Having won the competition in its first four years, from 1895 to 1898, the club applied successfully for first-class status. ^[8] The first County Championship match at New Road was held on 4–6 May 1899, when the home side lost to Yorkshire by 11 runs. ^[9] The land was finally purchased in 1976 for the sum of £30,000. ^{[10] [11]} The capacity of the ground is 4,500, small by first-class standards.^{[ citation needed ]}

There is a small cricket shop located just outside the ground, selling cricket equipment, clothing, books and accessories. This shop opened in July 2008, replacing a long-standing older shop inside the ground. The shop also contains the administrative office for ticket sales and enquiries.^{[ citation needed ]}

Elton John performed to a crowd of 17,000 at the ground in June 2006. ^{[12] [13]}

Flooding

In winter, the ground is often submerged by water from the nearby river, and was severely affected by the floods of July 2007. These caused more than one million pounds in damage, and cricket did not return to the ground until the beginning of the following season. ^[14]

Over the winter of 2023–24 the ground was flooded seven times, which resulted in the first two home games of the 2024 County Championship being played at the Chester Road North Ground in Kidderminster. In April 2024, Worcestershire's board confirmed that they were looking at options to secure the club's long-term future, possibly including a move away from New Road. ^{[15] [16]} Speaking on the BBC's Test Match Special podcast, chief executive Ashley Giles explained that of the 30 occasions on which the ground had been flooded since 1899, 19 incidents had occurred in the past 24 years, and the problem was expected to get worse due to climate change. ^[17]

International cricket

New Road with Worcester Cathedral

New Road flooded during the 2007 season, leading to two abandoned matches.

New Road has hosted three men's One Day Internationals: one in the 1983 World Cup, when Gordon Greenidge scored 105 not out (the only men's international century at the ground) to take the West Indies to an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe; ^[18] and two in the 1999 World Cup: a six-wicket victory for Australia over Scotland ^[19] and a four-wicket victory for Sri Lanka over Zimbabwe. ^[20]

The ground has also seen nine Women's Test matches between 1951 and 2009, including the England Women's decisive victory during the 2005 Ashes, in which Katherine Brunt scored 52 and took match figures of 9/111; ^{[21] [22]} Brunt also took a first-innings 6/69 in the 2009 Ashes Test at Worcester, which was drawn. ^{[23] [24]} It has staged seven Women's ODI between 2000 and 2021, ^[25] and one Women's Twenty20 International in 2022. ^[26]

The England Lions (formerly England A) played a four-day match against the Australian touring side at New Road in 2009; in a drawn match, Mike Hussey (150) and Marcus North (191 not out) made runs, while Worcestershire's Stephen Moore responded with 120; Brett Lee took 6/76. ^[27]

Records

Men's One-Day Internationals

• Matches: 3
• Highest team total:
  218/2 (48.3 overs) by West Indies v. Zimbabwe, 1983 ^[18]
• Lowest team total:
  181/7 (50 overs) by Scotland v. Australia, 1999 ^[19]
• Highest individual innings:
  105* by Gordon Greenidge for West Indies v. Zimbabwe, 1983 ^[18]
• Best bowling in an innings:
  3–30 by Pramodya Wickramasinghe for Sri Lanka v. Zimbabwe, 1999 ^[20]

Women's Tests

• Matches: 9
• Highest team total:
  427/4 declared by Australia Women v. England Women, 1998 ^[28]
• Lowest team total:
  63 by New Zealand Women v. England Women, 1954 ^[29]
• Highest individual innings:
  190 by Sandhya Agarwal, India Women v. England Women, 1986 ^[30]
• Best bowling in an innings:
  7/34 by Gill McConway, England Women v. India Women, 1986 ^[30]
• Best bowling in a match:
  9/107 by Mary Duggan for England Women v. Australia Women, 1951 ^[31]
  9/111 by Katherine Brunt for England Women v. Australia Women, 2005 ^[22]

First-class

• Highest team total:
  701/4 declared by Leicestershire v. Worcestershire, 1906 ^[32]
  701/6 declared by Worcestershire v Surrey, 2007 ^[33]
• Lowest team total:
  30 by Hampshire v. Worcestershire, 1903 ^[34]
• Triple centuries:
  331* by Jack Robertson for Middlesex v. Worcestershire, 1949 ^[35]
  315* by Graeme Hick for Worcestershire v. Durham, 2002 ^[36]
  311* by Glenn Turner for Worcestershire v. Warwickshire, 1982 ^[37]
• Ten wickets in an innings:
  10–51 by Jack Mercer for Glamorgan v. Worcestershire, 1936 ^[38]
  10–76 by Jack White for Somerset v. Worcestershire, 1921 ^[39]
• Fifteen wickets in a match:
  15–106 by Reg Perks for Worcestershire v. Essex, 1937 ^[40]
  15–175 by Jack White for Somerset v. Worcestershire, 1921 ^[39]

List A

• Highest team total:
  404/3 (60 overs) by Worcestershire v. Devon, 1987 ^[41]
• Lowest team total:
  45 (23.4 overs) by Hampshire v. Worcestershire, 1988 ^[42]
• Highest individual innings:
  172* by Graeme Hick v. Devon, 1987 ^[41]
• Best bowling in an innings:
  6–14 by Jack Flavell for Worcestershire v. Lancashire, 1963 ^[43]
  6–14 by Howard Cooper for Yorkshire v. Worcestershire, 1975 ^[44]
  6–16 by Shoaib Akhtar for Worcestershire v. Gloucestershire, 2005 ^[45]

See also

• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales

References

1. "The world's 14 most beautiful cricket grounds". The Telegraph . London. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
2. Lemmon (1989), pp. 17–18.
3. "Worcestershire Cricket Club Annual Meeting" . Berrow's Worcester Journal . No. 10950. 17 October 1896. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Cricket in 1897" . The Daily Telegraph . No. 13082. London. 16 April 1897. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "To-day's Cricket" . Evening Express . No. 8128. Liverpool. 29 July 1897. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Worcestershire County Cricket Club" . Birmingham Daily Gazette . Vol. 71, no. 9235. 15 October 1897. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Observer's Notes" . Birmingham Daily Gazette. Vol. 71, no. 9181. 2 August 1897. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Vockins (1980), p. 9.
9. Vockins (1980), pp. 17–19.
10. Lemmon (1989), p. 197.
11. White, John (7 August 1976). "A Shot-in-the-arm" . Sports Argus . Birmingham. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Walden, Celia (14 June 2006). "Elton rocket" . The Daily Telegraph. No. 46972. London. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "BBC - Hereford and Worcester - in Pictures - Elton John Concert Layout".
14. Kidd, Patrick, ed. (23 April 2008). "Worcestershire flooded with optimism" . The Times . No. 69305. London. p. 69.
15. "Worcestershire consider move away from New Road after latest floods". ESPNcricinfo. 3 April 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
16. "Worcestershire willing to consider move away from New Road to secure club's 'long-term future'". BBC Sport . London. 15 April 2024. Archived from the original on 15 April 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
17. Howells, Kevin (host) (22 May 2024). "County Cricket: 'The situation is worsening at New Road'". Test Match Special (Podcast). London: BBC . Retrieved 23 May 2024.
18. West Indies v Zimbabwe, 2003
19. Australia v Scotland, 1999
20. Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, 1999
21. "Full Scorecard of England Women vs Australia Women 2nd Test 2005 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo.com . Retrieved 29 July 2019.
22. England Women v Australia Women, 2005
23. England Women v Australia Women, 2009
24. "Full Scorecard of England Women vs Australia Women Only Test 2009 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo.com. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
25. "Cricket Records in ENG: County Ground, New Road, Worcester in Women ODI matches". Espncricinfo. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
26. "Cricket Records in ENG: County Ground, New Road, Worcester in Women T20I matches". Espncricinfo. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
27. England Lions v Australians, 2009
28. England Women v Australia Women, 1998
29. England Women v. New Zealand Women, 1954
30. England Women v. India Women, 1986
31. England Women v Australia Women, 1951
32. Worcs v Leics, 1906
33. Worcs v Surrey, 2007
34. Worcs v Hants, 1903
35. Worcs v Middx, 1949
36. Worcs v Durham, 2002
37. Worcs v Warwicks, 1982
38. Worcs v Glam, 1936
39. Same match. Worcs v Somst, 1921
40. Worcs v Essex, 1937
41. Same match. Worcs v Devon, 1987
42. Worcs v Hants, 1988
43. Worcs v Lancs, 1963
44. Worcs v Yorks, 1975
45. Worcs v Gloucs, 2005

Sources

• Lemmon, David (1989). The Official History of Worcestershire County Cricket Club. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN   0747020132.
• Vockins, M. D. (1980). Worcestershire Country Cricket Club: A Pictorial History. London: Severn House. ISBN   072780619X.

52°11′21″N2°13′37″W / 52.18917°N 2.22694°W / 52.18917; -2.22694