Grace Road, known for sponsorship reasons as the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road, is a

cricket ground 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 strikin ...

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. It is the home ground and administrative base 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 ...

History

Grace Road Cricket Ground - 1 - geography-387387

bought in 1877 the land on which Grace Road now stands from the then

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in who ...

, and spent the massive sum of £40,000 on developing a cricket club, athletic track and hotel. The first match played there took place three months later, when Leicestershire played a touring

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

team. Contrary to popular belief, the road was named after Grace Margaret Yearby, the daughter of a local property owner Edward John Yearby, not

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

. Leicestershire CCC left the Grace Road site in 1901, owing to low attendances at matches, which were blamed on lack of public transport to the ground. The club moved to a site near to

Aylestone Road Aylestone Road, now also known as the Leicester Electricity Sports Cricket Ground, is a cricket ground in Leicester, England, which was the headquarters of Leicestershire County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1939. Although the playing area is much r ...

in order to be closer to the city centre. Leicestershire eventually returned to Grace Road in 1946, after the end of 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 ...

, and has been based there ever since, re-purchasing the land in 1966. The record attendance, at Leicestershire's match against the touring 1948 Australians, is 16,000.

International cricket

Three

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s have been played at Grace Road, although none has involved

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 ...

. In the

1983 Cricket World Cup The 1983 Cricket World Cup (officially the Prudential Cup '83) was the 3rd edition of the Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 to 25 June 1983 in England and Wales and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. En ...

eventual winners

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, chasing a target of 156, beat

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

by five wickets. The second and third games were both in the 1999 World Cup. In the second Zimbabwe beat India by three runs, and in the third the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

beat

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

by eight wickets.

International centuries

Women's Test centuries

One WTest century has been scored at the venue.

Women's One-Day International centuries

Five WODI centuries have been scored at the venue.

Dimensions

In front of the wicket at both ends the pitch is measured at 56 metres, while square of the wicket on both sides the dimensions are recorded as 76 metres. This is larger than most county grounds, but smaller than some of England's major international venues such as

the Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

References

{{Lightning (women's cricket) Cricket grounds in Leicestershire Sports venues in Leicester Leicestershire County Cricket Club Sports venues completed in 1878 1999 Cricket World Cup stadiums 1983 Cricket World Cup stadiums