Grace Road

For the Christian church, see Grace Road Church.

Grace Road

The Pavilion at Grace Road
Ground information
Location	Leicester, England
Establishment	1878
Capacity	6,000 cricket matches / 19,999 music concerts
End names
Pavilion End Bennett End
International information
First ODI	11 June 1983:   India v   Zimbabwe
Last ODI	27 May 1999:   Scotland v   West Indies
Only women's Test	8–12 August 2006:   England v   India
First WODI	30 June 1984:   England v   New Zealand
Last WODI	14 September 2023:   England v   Sri Lanka
Team information
Leicestershire (1894 – present)
As of 21 September 2021 Source: CricketArchive

1km
0.6miles

Grace Road

  

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

The Bennett End of the ground

The Meet (right)

Leicestershire County Cricket Club bought in 1877 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 first match played there took place three months later, when Leicestershire played a touring Australia team. Contrary to popular belief, the road was named after Grace Margaret Yearby, the daughter of a local property owner Edward John Yearby, not W. G. Grace.

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 near to 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] and has been based there ever since, re-purchasing the land in 1966.

The record attendance, at Leicestershire's match against the touring 1948 Australians, is 16,000.

International cricket

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. ^[5] The second and third games were both in the 1999 World Cup. In the second Zimbabwe beat India by three runs, ^[6] and in the third the West Indies beat Scotland by eight wickets. ^[7]

International centuries

Women's Test centuries

One WTest century has been scored at the venue. ^[8]

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

Seven WODI centuries have been scored at the venue. ^[9]

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

Dimensions

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

• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
• List of Leicestershire County Cricket Club grounds

References

1. "Leicestershire CCC".
2. Grounds - Grace Road, Leicester
3. "History of Leicestershire". Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
4. Main Developments at Grace Road 1878-2007 Archived 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
5. India v Zimbabwe 1983
6. India v Zimbabwe 1999 Archived 2012-09-19 at archive.today
7. Scotland v West Indies 1999
8. "Statistics / Statsguru / Women's Test Matches / Batting records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
9. "Statistics / Statsguru / Women's One-Day International Matches / Batting records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 September 2023.

52°36′28″N1°08′34″W / 52.60778°N 1.14278°W / 52.60778; -1.14278