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County Cricket Ground, Hove

The County Cricket Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as The 1st Central County Ground,[1] is a cricket venue in Hove, in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The County Ground is the home of Sussex County Cricket Club, where most Sussex home matches since 1872 have been played, although many other grounds in Sussex have been used. Sussex CCC continue to play some of their games away from The County Ground, at either Arundel Castle or Horsham. It is one of the few county grounds to have deckchairs for spectators, in the Sussex CCC colours of blue and white,[2] and was the first cricket ground to install permanent floodlights, for day/night cricket matches and the second ground (after Edgbaston) to host a day/night match in England, in 1997.[3]

1st Central County Ground
Ground information
LocationHove, East Sussex
Coordinates50°49′48″N 0°09′51″W / 50.83000°N 0.16417°W / 50.83000; -0.16417
Establishment1872
Capacity6,000
End names
Cromwell Road End
Sea End
International information
Only ODI15 May 1999:
 India v  South Africa
First women's Test29 August—1 September 1987:
 England v  Australia
Last women's Test9—12 August 2005:
 England v  Australia
First WODI23 June 1973:
 England v  International XI
Last WODI18 September 2022:
 England v  India
First WT20I5 August 2004:
 England v  New Zealand
Last WT20I9 July 2024:
 England v  New Zealand
Team information
Sussex (1872 – present)
As of 9 July 2024
Source: CricketArchive

Cricket history

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Prior to 1872, Sussex County Cricket Club played their home matches at Royal Brunswick Ground. The land for the County Ground was a barley field until it was bought in 1871. The turf from the Royal Brunswick Ground was then brought to the County Ground, which became the home of Sussex CCC in 1872, and continues to be so.[4]

In 1872, George "Farmer" Bennett became the first batsman in first-class cricket to be given out handled ball during a match between Kent and Sussex at the County Ground.[5] In 1873, Sussex bowled Worcestershire out for 19 at Hove.[6] In 1884–85, the public raised £4,400 towards the purchase of the ground, with the Earl of Sheffield contributing an additional £600.[7] In the 20th century, the ground was used for some other cricket matches, such as a charity match in 1927 between the "Jockeys" and the "Racing Press", in aid of the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital,[8] and an annual match between local commercial travellers and grocers, nicknamed "Travellers v. Grocers"; in 1925, the match was won by the Travellers by 1 run.[9]

The ground has hosted one men's One Day International;[4] the match was part of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, and was a Group A match between South Africa and India, which South Africa won by 4 wickets.[10] The County Ground has also hosted 2 Test matches in The Women's Ashes in 1987 and 2005;[11] in addition, the ground hosted two One Day Internationals in the 2013 Women's Ashes,[12] As of 2017, 5 Women's ODIs and 4 Women's T20Is have been hosted at the ground.[13][14]

In 2003, The County Ground was the venue where Sussex won their first County Championship title. In that match, Sussex batsman Murray Goodwin also scored 335*, which was then highest score by a Sussex player in first-class cricket.[a][17] The ground also saw Sussex win their third Championship title in 2007.[b][19]

Non-cricket history

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During the 1890s, the County Ground was also used as a football ground for teams from the Brighton Area, including Brighton United of the Southern League (until they went bust in 1900),[20] and Brighton Athletic of the East Sussex League.[21][22] The ground was also the venue for the Sussex lawn tennis championship meetings in 1893[23] and 1899,[24] and in 1948, the County Ground also hosted a rugby union match between Brighton and a Midland Bank team.[25]

Many concerts have been held at the County Ground. Elton John has played at the ground in 2006, 2011 [26] and 2019, the ground has also hosted Madness,[27] Lionel Richie (with Shane Filan of Westlife as support act), Little Mix, Olly Murs, Cliff Richard and Rod Stewart. As part of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay, the ground hosted an official Olympic torch event.[28][29]

For many years, the County Ground has hosted a popular fireworks display within the South East, for Guy Fawkes Night. In 2019, the annual fireworks night sold out with over 7,500 attendees.[citation needed]

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  •  
    Sussex batting against Derbyshire on 24 April 2005
  •  
    The former Arthur Gilligan stand
  •  
    Leaving the County Ground
  •  
    Sussex vs Nottinghamshire in 2011
  •  
    The Pavilion in 2011
  •  
    The scoreboard in 2011

Notes

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  1. ^ As of 2015, the highest score by a Sussex batsman is now 344, scored by Goodwin at Taunton in 2009.[15][16]
  2. ^ Sussex's second title was won in 2006 at Trent Bridge.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Sussex announce new ground name; 'The 1st Central County Ground, Hove'". Sussex County Cricket Club. 15 March 2016. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  2. ^ Thomson, Sam (16 April 2009). "New Sussex cricket ground plans unveiled". The Argus. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  3. ^ "CRICKET - Cricket's floodlit revolution". BBC Sport.
  4. ^ a b "County Ground". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  5. ^ Donnelley, Paul (2010). Firsts, Lasts & Onlys of Cricket: Presenting the most amazing cricket facts from the last 500 years. ISBN 9780600622536. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. ^ Stern, John; Williams, Marcus (2013). The Essential Wisden: An Anthology of 150 Years of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. pp. 768–769. ISBN 9781408178966. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Cricket". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 30 December 1884. p. 8. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Otter Hounds". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 13 July 1927. p. 20. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Travellers v. Grocers". Portsmouth Evening News. 5 June 1925. p. 4. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "ICC World Cup, 2nd Match: India v South Africa at Hove, May 15, 1999". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  11. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  12. ^ "2013 Women's Ashes Series – Format". ecb.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016.
  13. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  14. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  15. ^ "Goodwin breaks records at Taunton". BBC Sport. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  16. ^ "HIGHEST TEAM TOTALS FOR SUSSEX". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  17. ^ "Cricket – Sussex win title". BBC. 18 September 2003. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  18. ^ "Cricket – Counties – Mushtaq seals Sussex title glory". BBC. 22 September 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  19. ^ "Lancashire go down fighting as Sussex secure title". ESPNcricinfo. 22 September 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  20. ^ "Football". Sussex Agricultural Express. 19 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. ^ "East Sussex League". Sussex Agricultural Express. 21 January 1898. p. 3. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. ^ "Football". Sussex Agricultural Express. 11 January 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. ^ "Lawn Tennis". London Evening Standard. 9 September 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ "Lawn Tennis". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 11 September 1899. p. 8. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  25. ^ "Brighton and Hove: What's on in Sport". Sussex Agricultural Express. 30 January 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. ^ "Updated: Elton John rocks Hove". The Argus.
  27. ^ "Madness announce their biggest city show to date at Hove's County Ground". The Argus.
  28. ^ "New Brighton and Hove route for Olympic torch". The Argus.
  29. ^ "London 2012: Brighton Olympic torch party moved from seafront". BBC News. 23 April 2012.

See also

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