The County Cricket Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as The1st Central County Ground,[1] is a cricket venue in Hove, in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The County Ground is the home of Sussex County Cricket Club, where most Sussex home matches since 1872 have been played, although many other grounds in Sussex have been used. Sussex CCC continue to play some of their games away from The County Ground, at either Arundel Castle or Horsham. It is one of the few county grounds to have deckchairs for spectators, in the Sussex CCC colours of blue and white,[2] and was the first cricket ground to install permanent floodlights, for day/night cricket matches and the second ground (after Edgbaston) to host a day/night match in England, in 1997.[3]
Cricket history
Prior to 1872, Sussex County Cricket Club played their home matches at Royal Brunswick Ground. The land for the County Ground was a barley field until it was bought in 1871. The turf from the Royal Brunswick Ground was then brought to the County Ground, which became the home of Sussex CCC in 1872, and continues to be so.[4]
In 1872, George "Farmer" Bennett became the first batsman in first-class cricket to be given out handled ball during a match between Kent and Sussex at the County Ground.[5] In 1873, Sussex bowled Worcestershire out for 19 at Hove.[6] In 1884–85, the public raised £4,400 towards the purchase of the ground, with the Earl of Sheffield contributing an additional £600.[7] In the 20th century, the ground was used for some other cricket matches, such as a charity match in 1927 between the "Jockeys" and the "Racing Press", in aid of the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital,[8] and an annual match between local commercial travellers and grocers, nicknamed "Travellers v. Grocers"; in 1925, the match was won by the Travellers by 1 run.[9]
In 2003, The County Ground was the venue where Sussex won their first County Championship title. In that match, Sussex batsman Murray Goodwin also scored 335*, which was then highest score by a Sussex player in first-class cricket.[a][17] The ground also saw Sussex win their third Championship title in 2007.[b][19]
Non-cricket history
During the 1890s, the County Ground was also used as a football ground for teams from the Brighton Area, including Brighton United of the Southern League (until they went bust in 1900),[20] and Brighton Athletic of the East Sussex League.[21][22] The ground was also the venue for the Sussex lawn tennis championship meetings in 1893[23] and 1899,[24] and in 1948, the County Ground also hosted a rugby union match between Brighton and a Midland Bank team.[25]
For many years, the County Ground has hosted a popular fireworks display within the South East, for Guy Fawkes Night. In 2019, the annual fireworks night sold out with over 7,500 attendees.[citation needed]
Gallery
Sussex batting against Derbyshire on 24 April 2005
The former Arthur Gilligan stand
Leaving the County Ground
Sussex vs Nottinghamshire in 2011
The Pavilion in 2011
The scoreboard in 2011
Notes
^As of 2015, the highest score by a Sussex batsman is now 344, scored by Goodwin at Taunton in 2009.[15][16]