Ground information | |||||||
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Location | Llanelli, Carmarthenshire | ||||||
Establishment | 1861 (first recorded match) | ||||||
Capacity | 7,500 | ||||||
Team information | |||||||
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As of 21 August 2010 Source: Ground profile |
Stradey Park is a cricket ground in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1861, when Carmarthenshire played Glamorganshire. [1]
A venue of Llanelli Cricket Club since the 1870s, Stradey Park Rugby Stadium, which adjoins the cricket ground was selected as part of the 1887 Home Nations Championship, with the opening home match for Wales being against England. The game was arranged for the 8 January and a temporary stand was erected to allow a seating area so the club could charge higher ticket prices; but on the day the English team refused to play on the ground as the pitch was frozen. [2] The cricket ground being in better condition was pulled into action, so the match was moved there along with the entire crowd of 8,000, many members of which were extremely unhappy as they lost their seating area.
The ground was first used for a Minor Counties Championship match when Carmarthenshire played Monmouthshire in 1908. From 1908 to 1911, the ground hosted 13 Minor Counties Championship matches, with the final Minor Counties Championship fixture Carmarthenshire played on the ground coming against Buckinghamshire. [3]
The ground was first used for first-class matches in 1933, when Glamorgan played Worcestershire in the County Championship. From 1933 to 1965, the ground hosted 23 first-class matches, the last of which was between Glamorgan and Essex. [4] County Championship cricket at the ground ended in 1965 when Glamorgan opted to concentrate their western fixtures on Swansea and Neath. Glamorgan later returned to the ground, in the capacity to play List-A matches. The first List-A match on the ground saw Glamorgan play Leicestershire in the 1988 Refuge Assurance League. From 1988 to 1993, the ground held 5 List-A matches, with the final List-A match seeing Glamorgan play Sussex in the 1993 AXA Equity and Law League. [5]
The ground was used in 1991 by Wales Minor Counties when they played Oxfordshire in the Minor Counties Championship. In local domestic cricket, the ground is the home venue of Llanelli Cricket Club.
The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes under the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). There are currently twenty teams in National Counties cricket: nineteen representing historic counties of England, plus the Wales National County Cricket Club.
Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872.
Stradey Park was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of seating and standing with a total capacity of 10,800. Following the Scarlets' move to Parc y Scarlets in 2008, Stradey Park was demolished two years later and replaced with housing.
Wales National County Cricket Club is one of twenty National county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents all of the historic counties of Wales except Glamorgan and is currently the only non-English member of the National Counties Cricket Championship.
Carmarthenshire County Cricket Club was a county cricket club based in the historic Welsh county of Carmarthenshire that competed in the Minor Counties championship from 1908 to 1911, without success. The Minor Counties had a divisional structure at the time and Carmarthenshire was grouped with other Welsh and West of England sides.
The Gnoll in Neath, Wales is a sports ground, with a capacity of 6,000. It is used primarily for rugby union and rugby league, although it has also been used previously for association football and cricket. The stadium has hosted international rugby matches, with it being the home ground of the Wales women's national rugby union team, and men's matches included one during the 2013 Rugby League World Cup against the Cook Islands.
Cricket is a popular sport in Wales; it started in the late 18th century, and has been played in Wales ever since. All cricket within Wales is regulated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), making it effectively part of the English cricket system. Glamorgan County Cricket Club is Wales' only first-class county team, and Welsh players are eligible to represent England as Wales does not currently have its own Test cricket team or cricket body. Cricket is played within the Welsh schools system, and is considered one of the country's main summer sports.
Parc y Scarlets is a rugby union stadium in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, that opened in November 2008 as the new home of the Scarlets and Llanelli RFC.
Clifford Alfred Bowen was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played for club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales. He was also a keen cricketer, playing for Llanelli and Carmarthenshire in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship.
North Perrott Cricket Club Ground is a former List A cricket ground located in North Perrott, Somerset. It hosted a single Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy match in 2001 between Somerset Cricket Board and Wales Minor Counties. The ground has also been used by Somerset County Cricket Club and Board for numerous other matches. It has also hosted the Somerset women's cricket team occasionally since 2005. The ground is home to North Perrott Cricket Club, and has been since its creation in 1946.
Watford Town Cricket Club Ground, at Woodside Playing Fields, is a cricket ground on the northern outskirts of Watford, Hertfordshire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1944, when the Combined Services played Northamptonshire. In 1976, the ground hosted its first Minor Counties Championship match when Hertfordshire played Norfolk. From 1976 to 1991, the ground played host to 11 Minor Counties Championship matches and a single MCCA Knockout Trophy match.
Christ Church Ground is a cricket ground in Oxford, England. The ground is owned by Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Owing to the University Parks being on public land where an admission charge could not be levied, the privately owned Christ Church Ground was the preferred venue in Oxford for matches where a gated admission was to be levied on spectators, typically in matches between Oxford University and a touring international team. The ground operated as a first-class cricket venue from 1878 to 1961, hosting 37 first-class matches. After 1961, the University Parks became the preferred venue for all first-class matches in Oxford, but it remained in use in minor counties cricket by Oxfordshire until the start of the 21st century. Today the ground is used by the Christ Church Cricket Club.
Manor Fields is a cricket ground in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1973, when Young England women played International XI women in the ground's only Women's One Day International.
West Cliff is a cricket ground in Preston, Lancashire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1870, when Preston played a United North of England Eleven.
Ynysangharad Park is a cricket ground in the centre of Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located in Ynysangharad War Memorial Park.
BP Oil Refinery Ltd Ground is a cricket ground in Llandarcy, Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1950, when the Glamorgan Second XI played the Gloucestershire Second XI in the 1950 Minor Counties Championship. The ground has held a further 19 Second XI fixtures for the Glamorgan Second XI in both the Second XI Championship and Second XI Trophy.
James Maxwell played first-class cricket for Somerset from 1906 to 1908. He was born and died at Taunton, Somerset.
Thomas Aubrey Leyson Whittington was a Welsh cricketer. Whittington was a right-handed batsman who fielded occasionally as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Neath, Glamorgan. In a career which lasted 22 years, Whittington was to prove a crucial figure in the history of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, with his influence within the MCC gaining them elevation from a Minor county to a first-class county and entry to the County Championship, a position they retain to this day.