Grace Road

Infobox cricket ground
ground_name = Grace Road
nickname =
country = England
location = Leicester, England
establishment = 1878
seating_capacity = 12,000
end1 = Pavilion End
end2 = Bennett End
international = true
firstodidate = 11 June
firstodiyear = 1983
firstodihome = India
firstodiaway = Zimbabwe
lastodidate = 27 May
lastodiyear = 1999
lastodihome = Scotland
lastodiaway = West Indies
year1 = 1894 – present
club1 = Leicestershire
date = 8 September
year = 2008
source = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/576.html CricketArchive

Grace Road is a cricket ground, in Leicester, England, home to Leicestershire County Cricket Club. Contrary to popular belief, the road itself was named after a local property owner, not W. G. Grace.

History

The land which Grace Road is built on was bought by Leicestershire County Cricket Club in 1877 from the then Duke of Rutland and spent the massive sum of £40,000 on developing a cricket club, athletic track and hotel [ [http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/ground/57100.html Grounds - Grace Road, Leicester] ] . The first match played on the ground took place just three months later against the touring Australia team. A game which Leicestershire won.

Leicestershire did leave the Grace Road site in 1901 due to lack of public transport to the crowd causing low crowds [ [http://www.leicestershireccc.com/club_info/history.html History of Leicestershire] ] . They were based on a site near to Aylestone Road, as it was closer to the city center. Leicestershire did eventually return to Grace Road after the end of the second world war in 1946 [ [http://www.leicestershireccc.com/club_info/developments_grace_road.html# Main Developments at Grace Road 1878-2007] ] and have been based their ever since, buying the land back in 1966.

The record attendance is 16,000 who watched the match against the touring 1948 Australians.

International Cricket

There have been been three One Day International played at Grace Road, unfortunately none have involved England. The first game was in the 1983 Cricket World Cup between Zimbabwe and the eventual winners India [ [http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65071.html India v Zimbabwe 1983] ] . India showed their class and easily chased down a target of 156 to win by 5 wickets. The Zimbabwean team was incidentally captained by former England coach Duncan Fletcher

The second and third games were both in the more recent 1999 World Cup. This time Zimbabwe beating India by three runs [ [http://www.uk.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/WORLD_CUPS/WC99/SCORECARDS/GROUP-A/IND_ZIM_WC99_ODI8_19MAY1999.html India v Zimbabwe 1999] ] . Then the Leicestershire public later saw the West Indies thrashing Scotland by 8 wickets. [ [http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65215.html Scotland v West Indies 1999] ]

Future Development

There is seemingly little chance of Grace Road ever being a test match venue. Leicestershire's owners seem very reluctant to make any significant investment, and there is little demand for two test match venues in the East Midlands.

Dimensions

The dimensions of Grace Road are as follows: in front of the wicket at both ends it is measured at 56 metres, whilst square of the wicket on both sides the dimensions are recorded as 76 metres. In the English County game that is regarded as quite large but still not up to the standards of some of England's major international venues such as Lord's or The Brit Oval.

ee also

*List of cricket grounds in England and Wales

References