Grace Road, known for sponsorship reasons as the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road,[1] is a cricket ground in Leicester, England. It is the home ground and administrative base of Leicestershire County Cricket Club.

Grace Road

The Pavilion at Grace Road
Ground information
Location	Leicester, England
Establishment	1878
Capacity	6,000 cricket matches / 19,999 music concerts
End names
Pavilion End Bennett End
International information
First ODI	11 June 1983:  India v  Zimbabwe
Last ODI	27 May 1999:  Scotland v  West Indies
Only women's Test	8–12 August 2006:  England v  India
First WODI	30 June 1984:  England v  New Zealand
Last WODI	18 July 2022:  England v  South Africa
Team information
Leicestershire (1894 – present)
As of 21 September 2021 Source: CricketArchive

History

Leicestershire County Cricket Club bought in 1877 the land on which Grace Road now stands from the then Duke of Rutland, and spent the massive sum of £40,000 on developing a cricket club, athletic track and hotel.[2] The first match played there took place three months later, when Leicestershire played a touring Australia 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.

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.[3] The club moved to a site near to Aylestone Road 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,[4] 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 Internationals have been played at Grace Road, although none has involved England.

In the 1983 Cricket World Cup eventual winners India, chasing a target of 156, beat Zimbabwe by five wickets.[5] The second and third games were both in the 1999 World Cup. In the second Zimbabwe beat India by three runs,[6] and in the third the West Indies beat Scotland by eight wickets.[7]

International centuries

Women's Test centuries

One WTest century has been scored at the venue.[8]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Opposing team	Innings	Date	Result
1	115	Claire Taylor	England	233	India	3	8 August 2006	Drawn

Women's One-Day International centuries

Five WODI centuries have been scored at the venue.[9]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Opposing team	Innings	Date	Result
1	106	Heather Knight	England	109	Pakistan	1	27 June 2017	Won
2	137	Natalie Sciver	England	92	Pakistan	1	27 June 2017	Won
3	104*	Deandra Dottin	West Indies	76	Pakistan	1	11 July 2017	Won
4	117*	Sophie Devine	New Zealand	116	England	2	13 July 2018	Won
5	114	Tammy Beaumont (1/2)	England	115	Australia	1	4 July 2019	Lost
6	119	Tammy Beaumont (2/2)	England	107	South Africa	1	18 July 2022	Won

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.

See also

• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
• List of Leicestershire County Cricket Club grounds

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grace Road.