Hyde Park was 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

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

on a site now used for high-rise community flats. It took the name of fields that occupied the area in the early 19th century. Hyde Park was used for important matches between 1830 and 1854. It opened in 1826 and was adopted by

Sheffield Cricket Club The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a key role in the development of cricket in northern England. It was the direct forerunner of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and some of the teams fielded by Sheffi ...

as a home venue, replacing

Darnall New Ground Darnall New Ground at High Hazels Park, Darnall, Sheffield was a first-class cricket venue in the 1820s. It was the home ground of Sheffield Cricket Club The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a ke ...

, from 1830 until 1854. It was itself superseded in April 1855 by

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

. Hyde Park staged the first "

Roses Match The Roses Match refers to any game of cricket played between Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Lancashire County Cricket Club. Yorkshire's emblem is the white rose, while Lancashire's is the red rose. The associations go back to the Wars of the R ...

" between

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 ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in July 1849.

Cricket ground

The first recorded match on the ground took place from 30 August to 1 September 1830 between

and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, Sheffield winning by 41 runs. Sheffield used the ground several times for important matches, their last one there being against

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

on 26 and 27 July 1852, Sheffield winning by an innings and 22 runs. Most of Sheffield's matches were against other town clubs, notably Manchester and Nottingham, but from 1833 they began to take on teams that represented counties and, for these matches, Sheffield called themselves

. As such, the first inter-county match involving a Yorkshire team was against

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

at Hyde Park from 2 to 5 September 1833, Yorkshire winning by 120 runs. Hyde Park staged the first "

" between Yorkshire and

on 23–25 July 1849, Yorkshire winning by 5 wickets. The last match at Hyde Park by a Yorkshire team was on 6 and 7 June 1853 against the United England Eleven (UEE). It was an "odds match" as Yorkshire used 14 players; the UEE won by an innings and 36 runs. The last known match of any kind on the ground was on 4 and 5 June 1866 when a team of 18 Nottingham and Sheffield Colts combined to play against the All-England Eleven (AEE).

Afterwards

Soon afterwards, Hyde Park was acquired by the Hallamshire Volunteer Rifle Corps as their drill ground.Hodgson, p. 12.

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 ...

played in the Colts v. AEE match as a guest player and captained the Colts XVIII. He recalled Hyde Park in his ''Recollections'' (published in 1899), saying: "The ground stood on the top of a high hill, and I began to despair of the cab ever getting to the top". In its heyday, Hyde Park covered five and a half acres and so could stage several matches concurrently. Situated on high ground, as Grace said, it was known for "its splendid views and rapid draining and drying". Its ability to stage "massed cricket" emulated

Parker's Piece Parker's Piece is a flat and roughly square green common located near the centre of Cambridge, England, regarded by some as the birthplace of the rules of association football. The two main walking and cycling paths across it run diagonally, an ...

and the Bombay Maidan as up to 200 cricketers could be playing there at any one time. The site was later converted to the

Hyde Park Greyhound Stadium Hyde Park Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium on Manor Oaks Road in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Origins A track was constructed in 1933 on St Johns Road, north of Manor Oaks Road in an area known as Park Hill at the time. ...

in 1933 until 1980.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{coord, 53.382485, N, 1.451389, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Cricket grounds in South Yorkshire Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in South Yorkshire English cricket in the 19th century Sports venues completed in 1830 Sports venues in Sheffield 1830 establishments in England