Aylestone Road, now also known as the Leicester Electricity Sports Cricket Ground, is a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

ground in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which was the headquarters of

Leicestershire County 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 count ...

from 1901 to 1939. Although the playing area is much reduced by housing and commercial developments, it is still used as a cricket ground, though not by the county team.

Early history

The previous centre of cricket in Leicester had been at

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

, where informal Leicestershire representative sides played. Costs associated with enclosing aspects of what was an open park proved costly, requiring a permanent home for cricket in the city. In 1877, land was purchased along for the sum of £40,000 and a sports complex, known as

Grace Road Grace Road, known for sponsorship reasons as the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road, is a cricket ground in Leicester, England. It is the home ground and administrative base of Leicestershire County Cricket Club. History Leicestershire ...

, was constructed. This included an athletics track, cricket ground and hotel. This ground held its first cricket match in 1878, when Leicestershire defeated a touring Australian club side, with 30,000 people in attendance. What would become the cricket ground at Aylestone Road existed in a sporting capacity since at least 1891, temporarily serving as the home ground of

Leicester Fosse F.C. Leicester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home ...

while their new ground at

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively b ...

was under construction. Having gained first-class status in 1895,

initially played their home matches at Grace Road, however it was considered too far away from the city centre by the Leicestershire committee and with poor transport links leading to low crowds, it was decided in 1901 to relocate the county club headquarters to the cricket ground further up the Aylestone Road and closer to the city centre, close to the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium at

and the

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

stadium at Welford Road. The ground hosted its inaugural first-class match in the 1901 County Championship, with Surrey as the visitors.

Use by Leicestershire

Leicestershire played all their first-class fixtures at Aylestone Road from 1901 to 1913, when they used Park Road in Loughborough as an outground. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the ground was requisitioned as a base for military training and headquarters of the

Leicester Town Rifles The Leicester Town Rifles was an early unit of the British Volunteer Force raised in 1859. It went on to become the parent unit of the Territorial Army battalions of the Leicestershire Regiment, which served on the Western Front during World ...

. From hosting its inaugural first-class match in 1901 through to 1939, Aylestone Road hosted 396 first-class matches. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the ground was requisitioned to serve as a quartermaster's depot for the American

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

. During the war, the ground was damaged by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

bombing, which caused damage to the main stand. Following the war, the expansion of

Leicester power station Leicester power stations are a series of electricity generating stations that have provided electric power to the City of Leicester and the wider area from 1894. The first station, located within Aylestone gas works, supplied electricity for street ...

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

necessitated the return of the county club back to their former Grace Road headquarters, due to the ground being blighted by black soot, coupled with the cooling towers making the pitch consistently damp.

Later history

After moving back to Grace Road, Leicestershire removed the main stand from Aylestone Road in 1952–53 and reconstructed it at Grace Road, initially naming it the Richards Stand, before settling on its current name The Meet. Leicestershire returned to the ground in 1957, playing two matches in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. Leicestershire's played their 399th and final first-class match at Aylestone Road in 1962, against

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In 1990, the ground played host to women's international cricket when it hosted two

Women's One Day International Women's One Day International (WODI) is the limited overs form of women's cricket. Matches are scheduled for 50 overs, equivalent to the men's game. The first women's ODIs were played in 1973, as part of the first Women's World Cup which was ...

s in the

1990 Women's European Cricket Cup The 1990 Women's European Cricket Cup was an international cricket tournament held in England from 18 to 22 July 1990. It was the second edition of the Women's European Championship, and all matches at the tournament held One Day International ( ...

between

England women The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Association ...

and the Netherlands women in the first match, and Denmark women and the Netherlands women in the second match. The ground is still used for cricket. It is the home ground of the Leicester Electricity Sports Cricket Club. Its playing area is greatly reduced and several outbuildings have been demolished, but the pavilion still stands. The ground has been substantially renovated by

South Leicestershire College North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College – Wigston Campus, previously known as South Leicestershire College is a general college of further education, which opened in 1970. Situated on the southern outskirts of Leicester, it dra ...

as part of a

NatWest National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

Cricket Force initiative.

First-class records

* Highest team total: 590 for 5 declared by

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, 1938 * Lowest team total: 25 all out by Leicestershire v

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, 1912 * Highest individual innings: 341 by

George Hirst George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...

for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

v Leicestershire, 1905 * Best bowling in an innings: 10–64 by

Tommy Mitchell Thomas Bignall Mitchell (4 September 1902 – 27 January 1996) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1928 and 1939. A leg spin bowler, he was the most successful slow bowler in the history of a county better ...

for

v Leicestershire, 1935 * Best bowling in a match: 16–102 by

Colin Blythe Colin Blythe (30 May 1879 – 8 November 1917), also known as Charlie Blythe, was an English professional cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team during the early part of the 20th century. Blythe was a Wisden Cricketer of ...

for Kent v Leicestershire, 1909

References

;Sources * {{Leicestershire County Cricket Club 1877 establishments in England Cricket grounds in Leicestershire Sports venues in Leicester Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Early history

Use by Leicestershire

Later history

First-class records

See also

References