List Of Sussex County Cricket Club Grounds
Unlike most professional sports, in which a team usually has a single fixed home ground, county cricket clubs have traditionally used different grounds in various towns and cities within the county for home matches, although the use of minor "out grounds" away from the club's main headquarters has diminished since the 1980s. In total, Sussex have played first-class, List A and Twenty20 cricket at 17 different grounds across the county.
The club's first fixture was played at the Royal New Ground, Brighton. The ground was Sussex's main ground until 1848, when the Royal Brunswick Ground in Brunswick, Hove became the main ground. In 1872, the land of the Royal Brunswick Ground was required for the expansion of the town, so the club relocated to the County Ground, which continues to be the main ground for Sussex Cricket Club. The County Ground was the venue where Sussex claimed the 2003 and 2007 County Championships. It is also the only ground in Sussex to have hosted international cricket; in the 1999 World Cup, a One Day International between India and South Africa was played at the ground.
In 1849, the club used a venue outside Brighton for the first time, when they played a first-class match at Petworth Park New Ground; the match against Surrey is notable for being one of Sussex's lowest aggregate scoring matches of all time, with only 287 runs scored. It was also the only time that Petworth Park hosted a Sussex match. Sussex have frequently used out grounds to host some of their matches, typically as part of cricket festivals. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, their main out grounds were the Central Recreation Ground in Hastings, The Saffrons in Eastbourne, the Cricket Field Road Ground in Horsham, and the Arundel Castle Cricket Ground (from 1972). After the Central Recreation Ground was demolished in 1996, Sussex also played two List A matches at Horntye Park, Hastings' other cricket ground. Eastbourne cancelled its proposed fixture in 2001 and did not host another county match until 2017, whilst Horsham was not awarded any matches for the 2016 season, due to financial difficulties. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of Sussex's matches in 2020 and 2021 were played at the County Ground. In 2020, Hampshire played some "home" fixtures at Arundel, as the Rose Bowl was being used by England.
The County Ground and Arundel Castle are the only two grounds to have hosted Sussex Twenty20 matches.
Grounds
Below is a complete list of grounds used by Sussex County Cricket Club for first-class, List A and Twenty20 matches. Statistics are complete through to the end of the 2020 season. Only matches played by Sussex County Cricket Club since its establishment in 1839 are included in the table. Matches abandoned without any play occurring are not included.
Name | Location | First-class | List A | Twenty20 | Refs | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First | Last | Matches | First | Last | Matches | First | Last | Matches | |||
Royal New Ground | Brighton | 1 July 1839 v Kent |
27 September 1847 v England |
47 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
Lillywhite's Ground |
Brighton | 29 August 1842 v England |
29 August 1842 v England |
1 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
Royal Brunswick Ground | Hove | 13 July 1848 v Nottinghamshire |
17 July 1871 v Surrey |
59 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
Petworth Park New Ground![]() |
Petworth | 19 July 1849 v Surrey |
19 July 1849 v Surrey |
1 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
Priory Park |
Chichester | 7 June 1852 v All-England Eleven |
28 June 1950 v Glamorgan |
16 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
E Tredcroft's Ground | Horsham | 11 August 1853 v Marylebone Cricket Club |
6 August 1855 v Marylebone Cricket Club |
3 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
The Dripping Pan![]() |
Lewes | 4 September 1854 v United All-England Eleven |
9 August 1860 v Marylebone Cricket Club |
2 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
East Sussex Cricket Ground | St Leonards-on-Sea | 10 September 1857 v Marylebone Cricket Club |
10 September 1857 v Marylebone Cricket Club |
1 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
Central Recreation Ground![]() |
Hastings | 4 September 1865 v Kent |
16 August 1989 v Middlesex |
143 | 8 July 1973 v Yorkshire |
20 August 1989 v Middlesex |
14 | – | – | 0 | |
Ashford Road | Eastbourne | 22 August 1867 v Kent |
25 August 1873 v Kent |
2 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
County Ground | Hove | 6 June 1872 v Gloucestershire |
– still in use |
1,222 | 12 June 1963 v Yorkshire |
– still in use |
399 | 18 June 2003 v Middlesex |
– still in use |
96 | |
The Saffrons |
Eastbourne | 1 July 1897 v Middlesex |
16 August 2000 v Northamptonshire |
159 | 19 July 1970 v Essex |
24 July 2020 v Kent |
35 | – | – | 0 | |
Cricket Field Road Ground![]() |
Horsham | 15 June 1908 v Essex |
19 July 2015 v Nottinghamshire |
104 | 16 May 1971 v Leicestershire |
9 August 2020 v Gloucestershire |
34 | – | – | 0 | |
Manor Sports Ground![]() |
Worthing | 26 June 1935 v Oxford University |
10 June 1964 v Nottinghamshire |
43 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
Arundel Castle Cricket Ground![]() |
Arundel | 25 July 1990 v Hampshire |
– still in use |
34 | 20 July 1972 v Gloucestershire |
– still in use |
20 | 27 June 2006 v Hampshire |
– still in use |
7 | |
Pagham Cricket Club Ground![]() |
Pagham | 23 June 1976 v Oxford University |
27 June 1979 v Oxford University |
2 | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0 | |
Horntye Park![]() |
Hastings | – | – | 0 | 7 May 2000 v Zimbabweans |
6 May 2001 v Kent |
2 | – | – | 0 |