Daren Sammy Cricket Ground


The Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, previously the Beausejour Cricket Ground, is a cricket ground located near Gros Islet, Saint Lucia standard seating capacity of 15,000. It was completed in 2002.
Originally named after the Beausejour hills and situated in the outskirts of Rodney Bay, the stadium was completed in 2002 and hosts domestic matches for the Windward Islands cricket team. It staged its first international Test match in 2003 against Sri Lanka and became the first venue in the Caribbean to host a day-night game.
The sporting facility was constructed on 22 acres consisting of about 18 hospitality suites and a pavilion that offers each team its own gym and lounge apart from a balcony and conference room. It is located in the driest area of Saint Lucia, making it most suitable for hosting cricket.
On 21 July 2016, it was formally renamed the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground after Daren Sammy, who captained the West Indies side in winning the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. He also captained the West Indies to victory in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India, making him the second West Indian captain after Clive Lloyd with multiple ICC world championships. One of the stands will also be named in honour of Johnson Charles, who was also part of the side in both 2012 and 2016.
The first international match played at the renamed ground took place on 9 August 2016, when India played the West Indies as part of a four-match Test series.

Location

The cricket ground is located at the north-eastern end of the tourist resort of Rodney Bay, approximately 6 minutes drive from the town of Gros Islet on the scenic Castries-Gros Islet Highway. The stadium is close to the residential enclaves in Beauséjour and Epouge Bay.

Facilities

The cricket ground is known for its high standard facilities and is regarded by the West Indies Cricket Board as a standard for current and future venues in the Caribbean. Its outfield, a perfect oval, is predictably lush green. It also became the first international ground in the Caribbean to receive floodlighting with the installation of 6 floodlight towers in 2006, enabling the hosting of day/night matches. In May 2006 it hosted the first ever international Day/Night ODI match in the Caribbean when the West Indies took on Zimbabwe. Due to the unfavourable time zone differences between the Caribbean and the large cricket markets in the far east international day/night matches have been few and far between.
The facility has 18 hospitality suites, a permanent seating capacity of 13,000 with bucket-type seating which can be increased to 20,000 for international matches. There are also two artificial pitches and two turfs for practice and warm-ups.

Ground statistics

Regional cricket

  • It serves as a home venue for the Windward Islands cricket team along with the Mindoo Philip Park in Castries.

    International cricket

  • It has been a venue for all forms of cricket in the West Indies since 2003.

    Cricket records

  • First One Day International: West Indies vs New Zealand on 8 June 2002.
  • First Test match: West Indies vs Sri Lanka on 20–24 June 2003.
  • Highest team score - India vs West Indies in 2006.
  • Highest team total – New Zealand vs Canada in 2007.
  • Highest team total – Australia vs Pakistan in 2010.
  • Best Bowling – Rashid Khan vs West Indies in 2017.
  • Hat-tricks – Keshav Maharaj vs West Indies in 2021.

    List of centuries

Test centuries

a total of 18 centuries have been scored in international test cricket on the ground.
No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsInns.Opposing teamDateResult
1 118 275120 June 2003Drawn
2 113 143220 June 2003Drawn
3 209 360120 June 2003Drawn
4 113 131128 May 2004Drawn
5 111 152128 May 2004Drawn
6 141 293228 May 2004Drawn
7 103* 281328 May 2004Drawn
8 180 190110 June 2006Drawn
9 146 234110 June 2006Drawn
10 148* 243110 June 2006Drawn
11 120 307310 June 2006Drawn
12 101* 134313 September 2014Won
13 118 29719 August 2016Won
14 104 22719 August 2016Won
15 119* 186114 June 2018Drawn
16 122 22539 February 2019Won
17 102* 19149 February 2019Lost
18 141* 170210 June 2021Won

One-Day International centuries

a total of seven centuries have been scored in one-day international cricket on the ground.
No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsInns.Opposing teamDateResult
1 108* 13828 June 2002Won
2 130 13811 May 2004Lost
3 124 137222 May 2005Lost
4 101 117122 March 2007Won
5 102 148225 April 2011Won
6 102 70123 March 2012Won
7 106* 104121 July 2013Lost

List of five wicket hauls

Tests

Twelve five wicket hauls in Test matches have been taken at the venue.
No.BowlerDateTeamOpposing teamInnOversRunsWktsEconResult
1Corey Collymore20 6 2003129665Drawn
2Muttiah Muralitharan20 6 20032501385Drawn
3Kemar Roach14 9 2014220425Won
4Sulieman Benn14 9 2014432725Won
5Bhuvneshwar Kumar9 8 20162335Won
6Miguel Cummins9 8 2016311486Lost
7Shannon Gabriel14 6 2018116595Drawn
8Shannon Gabriel14 6 20183628Drawn
9Mark Wood9 2 20192415Won
10Lungi Ngidi10 6 20211195Won
11Kagiso Rabada10 6 2021320345Won
12Keshav Maharaj21 6 20214365Won

One Day Internationals

Three five wicket hauls in One-Day Internationals have been taken at the venue.
No.BowlerDateTeamOpposing teamInnOversRunsWktsEconResult
1Andrew Flintoff2 4 200925195Won
2Rashid Khan9 6 20172187Won
3Oshane Thomas2 3 20192215Won

Events

2007 Cricket World Cup matches

It was one of the venues of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the most important tournament in international cricket, hosting 7 matches, including all 6 Group C matches. New Zealand went the round unbeaten, twice scoring a total beyond 300 runs. The second semi-final between the defending champions Australia and South Africa was played here with an official attendance of 13,875.