Sports Ground, Woodbridge Road, Guildford

Last updated

Woodbridge Road
Woodbridge Road Guildford Pavilion 20180620 1.jpg
Ground information
Location Guildford, Surrey, England
Establishment1911
Capacity4,500
Owner Guildford
TenantsGuildford Cricket Club
End names
Pavilion End
Railway End
International information
First women's Test12–16 July 1996:
Flag of England.svg  England v Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Last women's Test6–10 August 1998:
Flag of England.svg  England v Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
First WODI22 July 1987:
Flag of England.svg  England v Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Last WODI26 July 1993:
Flag of England.svg  England v Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
As of 5 September 2020
Source: CricketArchive

The Sports Ground, Woodbridge Road is a cricket ground in Guildford, Surrey. The ground was given to the town in trust in 1911 by Sir Harry Waechter, Bart. Guildford Cricket Club play their home matches on the ground. Surrey County Cricket Club usually play at least one County Championship match there each season, as well as some second XI and Surrey Stars fixtures. Until comparatively recently, hockey was played on the ground in winter. The ground was also used for football until at least 1921. It was the home ground of the amateur team Guildford F.C. [1] who existed until 1953 (not to be confused with the professional Guildford City team who played at Josephs Road) and was also used as the venue for some Surrey Senior Cup finals.

Contents

The ground capacity is 4,500. The two ends of the ground are known as the Pavilion End and the Railway End.

History

The 2nd Royal Surrey Militia used the 'Woodbridge Road cricket ground' for its annual drill from 1853 until the 1860s, and particularly during the Crimean War when the regiment was embodied for full time service but was quarantined at Guildford due to an outbreak of smallpox. [2]

Surrey first used the ground in 1938, against Hampshire from 13 to 15 July, winning by an innings. They have played there in most seasons since.

In 1957, as part of a visit to Guildford to mark the 700th anniversary of the granting of a royal charter to the town by Henry III, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the ground during a county fixture, and the two teams (Surrey and Hampshire) were presented to them. [3]

The ground is on the small side, so that some high scores have been made there. The highest individual innings played on the ground in first-class matches is Justin Langer's 342 for Somerset in 2006. Somerset made 688-8 declared in their first innings in this match, but Surrey responded with 717 - the highest total made on the ground - and the match was drawn.

The most notable bowling feat is Martin Bicknell's against Leicestershire in 2000. He had match figures of 16-119, the second best match figures ever returned for Surrey. His figures in the second innings were 9-47. [4]

The highest individual innings in a List A one-day match on the ground is 203 by Alastair Brown in a 40 overs a side AXA Life League match against Hampshire in 1997. This remains the highest score in any 40 overs List A match played in England.

The English women's cricket team have played two Test Matches on the ground, against New Zealand in 1996 [5] and against Australia in 1998. [6]

The former Woodbridge Road groundsman, Bill Clutterbuck, won the Ransomes Jacobsen Trophy for Achievements in Cricket Groundsmanship at the ECB's annual pre-season dinner for First Class Groundsmen for 2006. [7]

Surrey currently play at least one first-class match at Woodbridge Road each season as part of a festival.

In 2018 a new pavilion was opened offering much improved facilities, as well as being an events and private hire venue. [8] In 2019, Surrey CCC took over ground maintenance. In 2019, the ground hosted two championship games versus Somerset and Yorkshire and four Surrey Stars matches in the Women's Cricket Super League season.

The former pavilion, since demolished Guildford Cricket Club - geograph.org.uk - 934837.jpg
The former pavilion, since demolished

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surrey County Cricket Club</span> English cricket club

Surrey County Cricket Club is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London. Teams representing the county are recorded from 1709 onwards; the current club was founded in 1845 and has held first-class status continuously since then. Surrey have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England, including every edition of the County Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leicestershire County Cricket Club</span> English cricket club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland. The club's limited overs team is called the Leicestershire Foxes. Founded in 1879, the club had minor county status until 1894, when it was promoted to first-class status pending its entry into the County Championship in 1895. Since then, Leicestershire have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England.

Surrey County Cricket Club, in 2005, played their cricket in the First Division of the County Championship and the Second Division of the totesport League. The 2004 season was a disappointment for Surrey under the captaincy of Jonathan Batty, who was replaced by Mark Butcher in 2005. However, Butcher was out for most of the season due to an injury to his left wrist, leaving Mark Ramprakash as interim captain – one of the few, maybe the only, man to captain both Surrey and their arch-rivals Middlesex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert Parkhouse</span> Welsh cricketer & rugby union footballer

William Gilbert Anthony Parkhouse was a Welsh cricketer who played in seven Tests for England in 1950, 1950–51 and 1959.

The County Ground in Southampton, England, was a cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season. The ground also served as the home ground for Southampton Football Club from 1896 to 1898.

Michael Burns is an English first-class list cricket umpire and former first-class cricketer who played county cricket for Warwickshire and Somerset in a first-class career which spanned from 1992 until 2005. He also played Minor Counties cricket for Cumberland and Cornwall. An adaptable cricketer, he appeared for Cumberland and Warwickshire as a wicket-keeper, but when he moved to Somerset he developed into an aggressive batsman who bowled at medium-pace when needed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerry Tordoff</span> English cricketer

George Gerald "Gerry" Tordoff played first-class cricket for Somerset, Cambridge University and the Combined Services in the 1950s and early 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Randall Johnson</span>

Peter Randall Johnson was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Somerset and several amateur sides in a long first-class cricket career that stretched from 1900 to 1927. During his career, he appears to have been known, somewhat formally, as "P. R. Johnson"; modern websites refer to him as "Randall Johnson". Somerset colleague Jack MacBryan, who didn't like him, called him "Peter Johnson".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antelope Ground</span> Sports ground

The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St. Mary's F.C."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May's Bounty</span> Cricket ground in Basingstoke, England

May's Bounty is a cricket ground situated along Bounty Road in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The ground is compact and is lined on all sides by trees, with its northern side overlooked by residential housing. The Bounty was used intermittently by Hampshire County Cricket Club in the early 20th-century, before Hampshire began to play there annually from 1966 to 2000. The ground is owned by the Basingstoke Sports and Social Club and is used in club cricket by Basingstoke and North Hants Cricket Club. The ground has a capacity for major matches of 2,500, while its end names are called the Town End to the north and the Castlefield End to the south.

The Officers Club Services Ground is a cricket ground in Fleet Road, Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The ground was used as a host venue for first-class cricket by Hampshire and various services teams from 1905 to 1964, hosting nine matches. A Women's Twenty20 International was later played there in 2011.

James Geoffrey Lomax played first-class cricket as a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler for Lancashire and Somerset between 1949 and 1962. He was born at Rochdale, then in Lancashire, and died at Frenchay Hospital, near Bristol.

Church Road was a cricket ground located along Church Road in Earley, Berkshire, England. The ground was bordered to the east by woodland and to the north, south and west by residential housing. It contained one pavilion, located in the north western corner of the ground.

Batsford Road, sometimes known as Moreton-in-Marsh Cricket Club Ground, is a cricket ground in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. The ground is located off the Batsford Road as it leaves Moreton-in-Marsh. It played host to first-class and List A cricket matches for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club between 1884 and 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somerset County Cricket Club in 1885</span> Events of the 1885 cricket season

The 1885 season was an annus horribilis for Somerset County Cricket Club. Captained by Ted Sainsbury, who had taken over from Stephen Newton, captain for the previous three seasons, they played six first-class cricket matches. Somerset's only win of the season came in their first match; all the other were lost. Two of the losses, those away against Gloucestershire and Surrey, number among the county's ten heaviest defeats. Somerset were unable to field a full team for their fourth match, which coupled with their poor results and lack of fixtures resulted in the club being stripped of its first-class status at the end of the season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivian Crawford</span> English cricketer

Vivian Frank Shergold Crawford was an English cricketer who played as a right-handed batsman and an occasional right-arm fast bowler in first-class cricket for Surrey and Leicestershire between 1896 and 1910. He also played for many amateur teams. He was born in Leicester and died at Merton, Surrey. He was the brother of the England Test cricketer Jack Crawford and of the Leicestershire first-class cricketer Reginald Crawford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Bowl (cricket ground)</span> Cricket ground

The Rose Bowl, known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Bowl, is a cricket ground and hotel complex in West End, Hampshire. It is the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club, who have played there since 2001.

The 2019 County Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 Specsavers County Championship, was the 120th cricket County Championship season. As in 2018, Division One had eight teams and Division Two had ten teams. The first round of matches began on 5 April and the final round of matches ended on 26 September. Surrey were the defending champions. At the end of the 2019 season only one team was relegated with three promoted. Therefore, from 2020 onwards, Division One would feature ten teams and Division Two would feature eight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Bob Willis Trophy</span> 2020 cricket tournament

The 2020 Bob Willis Trophy was a first-class cricket tournament held in the 2020 English cricket season, and the inaugural edition of the Bob Willis Trophy. It was separate from the County Championship, which was not held in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. The eighteen county cricket teams were split into three regional groups of six, with the two group winners with the most points advancing to a final held at Lord's. The maximum number of overs bowled in a day was reduced from 96 to 90, and the team's first innings could be no longer than 120 overs.

In English cricket, the years from 1751 to 1775 are notable for the rise of the Hambledon Club and the continuing spread of the sport across England. The Laws of Cricket underwent a re-codification in 1775, including the introduction of the leg before wicket rule and the addition of the third stump to the wicket.

References

  1. "Guildford City Football Club history". Guildford City FC.
  2. Capt John Davis, Historical Records of the Second Royal Surrey or Eleventh Regiment of Militia, London: Marcus Ward, 1877, pp. 221–33, 248–51, 256–67, 270–82.
  3. Stephen Chalke, Micky Stewart and the Changing Face of Cricket, Fairfield Books, 2012, ISBN   978-0956851123, p114.
  4. "Bicknell's 16-119 best since the summer of 1956 | Report | Cricket News". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  5. "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. 15 July 1996. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  6. "The Home of CricketArchive". Cricketarchive.com. 9 August 1998. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  7. Archived September 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Guildford Pavilion". The Guildford Pavilion. Retrieved 23 September 2022.

51°14′34″N0°34′38″W / 51.24278°N 0.57722°W / 51.24278; -0.57722