Sonning Lane 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 ...

and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

ground in

Sonning Sonning is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Geogr ...

near

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England. It is located on a road called ''Sonning Lane'' between the

A4 road This is a list of roads designated A4. A4 is the name of several roads: * A004 road (Argentina), a road connecting Buenos Aires-La Plata highway with the Juan María Gutiérrez circle * A4 motorway (Austria), a road connecting Vienna and Nickelsd ...

and the village of Sonning, hence the name. Sonny Lane is the home of Reading Cricket Club. In 1988

played

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in the grounds' first

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket 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 cou ...

match, and the county side has continued to play there regularly since. This has also brought

List-A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

to the ground, starting with Berkshire's participation in the

1991 NatWest Trophy The 1991 NatWest Trophy was a limited-overs English county cricket tournament, held between 26 June and 7 September 1991. The competition was won by Hampshire who beat Surrey by 4 wickets in the final at Lord's. Format The seventeen first-cl ...

. There have been no further List-A games since 2005. The ground is also the home of

Reading Hockey Club Reading Hockey Club is a field hockey club based at Sonning Lane in the English town of Reading. It is one of the most successful clubs in the United Kingdom with National League and Cup honours. The Men's First Team play in the Men's England Ho ...

who enter teams in both the Men's and

Women's England Hockey League The Women's England Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by England Hockey that features women's teams from England. From 2011-2020 it was sponsored by Investec and was referred to as the Investec Women's Hockey League. Format Regula ...

s. The ground has also hosted several men's and women's international matches.

Cricket

In local domestic cricket, Sonning Lane is the home ground of Reading Cricket Club who play in the

Home Counties Premier Cricket League The Home Counties Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the Home Counties of England, and has been a designated ECB Premier League since its founding in 2000. It originally served Bedfordshire, ...

. From 1988 to the present day, the ground has played host to 21

matches, starting with

playing

on 31 July 1988. The first

List-A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

match played on the ground came in the

between Berkshire 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 ...

. From 1991 to 2005, the ground hosted 6 List-A matches, with the final List-A match played at the ground between Berkshire and

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in the

2005 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy The 2005 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy was the 4th Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, an English county cricket tournament, held between 3 May and 3 September 2005. The competition was contested by all 18 first-class counties, as well as 10 minor c ...

. In 1993, the ground played host to a match between the

England women's cricket team 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

Ireland women's cricket team The Ireland women's cricket team represents Ireland in international women's cricket. Cricket in Ireland is governed by Cricket Ireland and organised on an All-Ireland basis, meaning the Irish women's team represents both Northern Ireland and t ...

1993 Women's Cricket World Cup The 1993 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international cricket tournament played in England from 20 July to 1 August 1993. Hosted by England for the second time, it was the fifth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and came over four years ...

. Reading Cricket Club has seen several of its players progress into professional and international cricket. Martin Andersson is the most recent, having started as a colt at Reading, and now having signed a two-year professional contract with

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex 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 Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

, which will take him to 2020. Gareth Harte, Dan Housego, and

Aftab Habib Aftab Habib (born 7 February 1972) is an English former international cricketer. Habib was formerly the Hong Kong national coach, having been appointed on a three-year contract, including Hong Kong's appearance in the 2008 Asia Cup in Pakista ...

have all played professional cricket having played for Reading, the later playing two tests for England.

Hockey

is also based on the ground, with matches now generally played on an

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

pitch. The club maintains a number of men's, women's and junior sides with both the men's and women's first teams competing in the Men's and

s. The hockey pitch has also hosted a number of international matches, with England men,

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 Great Britain men all having played there.Great Britain Men to Play Poland in Reading
Great Britain Hockey, 8 January 2008.

References

External links

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

Sonning Lane
on CricketArchive {{Berkshire CCC Reading Hockey Club Cricket grounds in Berkshire Sports venues in Berkshire Field hockey venues in England Sonning Roads in Berkshire Sports venues completed in 1988