The County Ground at Lakenham in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
was 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 (small sticks) balanced on three stumps. Two players from the ...
for almost two hundred years, hosting both
first-class and
List A
List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, 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 competit ...
cricket. It was established in 1827 on land owned by
Colman's
Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited ra ...
, and was initially leased by the Norwich club.
[Lakenham's historic cricket ground pavilion demolished]
BBC News website, 2015-03-10. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
Five first-class games, all involving touring international sides, were played on the ground between 1912 and 1986,
[
] and 13 List A matches were staged between 1969 and 1998. The County Ground's most regular users were
Norfolk County Cricket Club
Norfolk County Cricket Club is one of twenty National County Cricket Clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Norfolk.
The club is a member of the National Counties Championship ...
, who played over 400
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 ...
games at the venue.
In the early 21st century the ground was redeveloped for a variety of other uses.
Records
First-class
* Highest team total: 425/5
declared by
West Indians
A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West Ind ...
v
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 ...
, 1950
* Lowest team total: 79 by
England XI v
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 ...
, 1912
* Highest individual innings: 117 by
Gerry Gomez
Gerry Ethridge Gomez (10 October 1919 – 6 August 1996) was a cricketer who played 29 Test matches for the West Indies cricket team between 1939 and 1954, scoring 1,243 runs and taking 58 wickets. He captained in one match for the West Indies ...
for
West Indians
A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West Ind ...
v
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 ...
, 1950
* Best bowling in an innings: 7/33 by
Sonny Ramadhin
Sonny Ramadhin, CM (1 May 1929 – 27 February 2022) was a West Indian cricketer, and was a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first of many West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year ...
for
West Indians
A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West Ind ...
v
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 ...
, 1950
* Best bowling in a match: 9/106 by
Evan Gray
Evan John Gray (born 18 November 1954) is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played 10 Tests and 10 One Day Internationals for New Zealand in the 1980s.
He was selected as an all rounder, with 17 wickets at a bowling average of 52.11. In 1981 ...
for
New Zealanders
New Zealanders are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common History of New Zealand, history, Culture of New Zealand, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citizens of Ne ...
v
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 ...
, 1986
List A
* Highest team total: 309 by
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
v
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
, 1994
* Lowest team total: 52 (26.5 overs) by
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 ...
v
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, 1998
* Highest individual innings: 138 by
Chris Adams for
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 ...
v
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 ...
, 1997
* Best bowling in an innings: 6/48 by
Tracey Moore for
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
v
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, 1969
[
]
References
Bibliography
*Hounsome K (2015) ''A Game Well Played: a history of cricket in Norfolk''. Norwich: Hounsome.
Defunct cricket grounds in England
Cricket grounds in Norfolk
Sports venues in Norwich
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