Grace Road


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

History

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

International centuries

Women's Test centuries

One WTest century has been scored at the venue.
No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsOpposing teamInningsDateResult
1115Claire Taylor 23338 August 2006Drawn

Women's One-Day International centuries

Seven WODI centuries have been scored at the venue.
No.ScorePlayerTeamBallsOpposing teamInningsDateResult
1106Heather Knight 109127 June 2017Won
2137Natalie Sciver 92127 June 2017Won
3104*Deandra Dottin 76111 July 2017Won
4117*Sophie Devine 116213 July 2018Won
5114Tammy Beaumont 11514 July 2019Lost
6119Tammy Beaumont 107118 July 2022Won
7120Nat Sciver-Brunt 74114 September 2023Won

Dimensions

In front of the wicket at both ends the pitch is measured at 63 metres, while square of the wicket on both sides the dimensions are recorded as 76 metres. This is the largest county ground including England's major international venues such as the Oval.