The County Ground was a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

ground in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. The ground, located along Station Road, was situated close to

Stoke-on-Trent railway station Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Stoke-on-Trent, on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line. It also provides an interchange between local services running through Cheshire, ...

History

The first recorded match on the ground was in 1885, when

played

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

in a non first-class match.

First-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

was first played there in 1886, when an England XI played the touring

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

, with the Australian

George Giffen George Giffen (27 March 1859 – 29 November 1927) was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia ...

taking the first two

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Taking ...

s to be taken there. Two years later in 1888, the fixture was repeated, resulting in victory for the Australians by the large margin of an innings and 135 runs. The match was of particular note for the England XI being dismissed for 28 in their first-innings, with Charles Turner taking figures in the innings of 9/15, figures which would remain the best return for any bowler in subsequent first-class matches there. The Australians returned to the ground during the 1890 Ashes series, playing a first-class match against a Staffordshire XI, resulting in an 88 runs victory for the Australians. In 1895,

played their inaugural

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

match there against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. The ground was the main venue for Staffordshire in these early years in the competition, hosting 70 Minor Counties Championship matches before the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914. It was in 1912 that the ground played host to a first-class fixture for the first time since 1890, when a combined

Minor Counties cricket team 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 unde ...

played its inaugural first-class match against the touring

South Africans South Africans are the citizens of South Africa (officially the Republic of South Africa ''RSA. These individuals include those residing within the borders of South Africa, as well as the South African diaspora. History The first modern inh ...

, with poor weather forcing the match to end in a draw. Following the war, the ground began to decline as a cricket venue, with Staffordshire preferring other locations around the county. After the war, just seven further Minor Counties Championship matches were held there in a fourteen-year period from 1922 to 1936, with Staffordshire playing their final fixture there against

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. First-class cricket returned once to the ground in this period, when the Minor Counties played the touring South Africans in 1929, which ended in a draw. Around the 1920s,

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

considered moving from their

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

to the county ground, however this move did not materialise. By 1955, the North Staffordshire Technical College had taken over ownership of the ground, and shortly after they built on it, with the site today a campus of Staffordshire University.

Records

First-class

* Highest team total: 248 by

v England XI, 1905 * Lowest team total: 28 by England XI v Australians, 1888 * Highest individual innings: 92 by

William Cook William, Will, Willie, Bill or Billy Cook may refer to: Sportsmen Association football (soccer) * William Cook (footballer) (1907–1968), English footballer who played for Darlington and Gateshead * Willie Cook (footballer) (1906–1981), Sc ...

for

Minor Counties 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 unde ...

, 1929 * Best bowling in an innings: 9-15 by Charles Turner for Australians v England XI, 1888 * Best bowling in a match: 13-48 by Charles Turner, as above

References and notes

External links

County Ground, Stoke-on-Trent
on CricketArchive

on

Cricinfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

{{Staffordshire CCC Defunct cricket grounds in England Cricket grounds in Staffordshire Sports venues in Stoke-on-Trent Defunct sports venues in Staffordshire Sports venues completed in 1885 1955 disestablishments in England