List of Essex County Cricket Club grounds

Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Essex. The club was established on 14 January 1876 and has played first-class cricket since 1894,[1] List A cricket since 1963[2] and Twenty20 cricket since 2003.[3]^[A] 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" has diminished since the 1980s.[4][5] Essex have played first class, List A, or Twenty20 matches at 14 different grounds.

The County Ground in Leyton (left) has hosted the most Essex matches, but it has not been used since 1977, and the majority of matches are now held at the similarly-named County Ground in Chelmsford (right).

The club's debut home fixture in first-class cricket was played at the County Ground in Leyton against Leicestershire in 1894. This venue continued to be used regularly for over 80 years, and as of 2020 has still hosted more of the county's first-class matches than any other ground. Essex played their final match at the venue in 1977, however, since when the similarly-named County Ground in Chelmsford has hosted the majority of first-class games. The ground in Leyton has continued to be used for matches in local competitions.[6]

The club's first home List A fixture took place in 1965 against Derbyshire at the Old County Ground in Brentwood. This venue had been used since the 1920s for first-class matches, but only staged two List A matches, and its use was discontinued altogether in 1969. The County Ground in Chelmsford played host to the club's first home Twenty20 fixture in 2003, against Kent, and has since hosted every one of the county's home Twenty20 matches with the exception of a single game in 2014 which was played at Castle Park in Colchester.

Essex traditionally staged annual "cricket festivals" in the towns of Colchester, Ilford and Southend-on-Sea, which usually consisted of two first-class matches over the course of a week, and later incorporated one List A match following the introduction of that format. The Ilford event was abandoned following the 2002 season.[7] The Southend festival moved from its traditional home at Southchurch Park to Garon Park in 2005,[8] making the latter venue the county's only new home ground of the 21st century. Following the 2011 season, however, Essex discontinued the Southend festival altogether,[9] leaving Castle Park in Colchester as the only venue regularly used by the county other than its main base in Chelmsford. The Colchester festival was not held in 2017, however, and all the county's home games were played at Chelmsford;[10] the Colchester festival has remained suspended.[11]

Grounds

Below is a complete list of grounds used by Essex 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 Essex CCC at the grounds are recorded in the table. Matches abandoned without any play occurring are not included.

Name	Location	First-class			List A			Twenty20
		First	Last	Matches	First	Last	Matches	First	Last	Matches
County Ground[12]	Leyton	14 May 1894 v Essex	10 August 1977 v Glamorgan	407[13]	3 August 1969 v Sussex	7 August 1977 v Derbyshire	10[14]	–	–	0
Southchurch Park[15]	Southend-on-Sea	13 August 1906 v Leicestershire	28 July 2004 v Nottinghamshire	130[16]	10 July 1977 v Middlesex	25 July 2004 v Northamptonshire	28[17]	–	–	0
Castle Park[18]	Colchester	18 June 1914 v Worcestershire	4 August 2016 v Sussex	123[19]	30 June 1974 v Yorkshire	5 August 2015 v Middlesex	46[20]	12 July 2014 v Kent	no other matches to date	1[21]
Old County Ground[22]	Brentwood	5 July 1922 v Dublin University	24 May 1969 v Worcestershire	58[23]	28 April 1965 v Derbyshire	13 May 1967 v Kent	2[24]	–	–	0
Valentines Park[25]	Ilford	9 June 1923 v West Indians	12 June 2002 v Northamptonshire	116[26]	15 June 1969 v Middlesex	16 June 2002 v Lancashire	37[27]	–	–	0
Garrison A Cricket Ground[28]	Colchester	18 June 1924 v Gloucestershire	7 June 1972 v Somerset	25[29]	26 June 1970 v Yorkshire	4 June 1972 v Lancashire	2[30]	–	–	0
County Ground[31]	Chelmsford	20 June 1925 v Oxford University	6 September 2020 v Middlesex	384[32]	27 April 1969 v Nottinghamshire	7 May 2019 v Gloucestershire	364[33]^[B]	20 June 2003 v Kent	20 September 2020 v Sussex	94[34]
Vista Road Recreation Ground[35]	Clacton-on-Sea	22 July 1931 v Lancashire	20 August 1966 v Leicestershire	60[36]	–	–	0	–	–	0
Chalkwell Park[37]	Westcliff-on-Sea	13 June 1934 v Nottinghamshire	10 July 1976 v Worcestershire	69[38]	12 July 1970 v Middlesex	11 July 1976 v Leicestershire	8[39]	–	–	0
Gidea Park Sports Ground[40]	Romford	24 May 1950 v Hampshire	22 May 1968 v Surrey	34[41]	–	–	0	–	–	0
Hoffman's Sports and Social Club Ground[42]	Chelmsford	29 August 1959 v Lancashire	14 June 1961 v South Africa Fezelas	3[43]	6 July 1969 v Northamptonshire	no other matches	1[44]	–	–	0
Harlow Sportcentre[45]	Harlow	27 June 1970 v Cambridge University	1 July 1970 v Kent	2[46]	25 May 1969 v Worcestershire	27 June 1982 v Leicestershire	7[47]	–	–	0
Thames Board Mills Sports Ground[48]	Purfleet	–	–	0	20 July 1969 v Kent	9 July 1972 v Glamorgan	4[49]	–	–	0
Garon Park[50]	Southend-on-Sea	3 August 2005 v Durham	27 July 2007 v Leicestershire	7[51]	7 August 2005 v Middlesex	31 July 2011 v Somerset	7[52]	–	–	0

Notes

A. ^ First-class cricket matches are designed to be contested over multiple days, with each team permitted two innings with no limit to the number of overs in an innings. List A matches are intended to be completed in a single day and restrict each team to a single innings of between 40 and 60 overs, depending on the specific competition. Twenty20 matches restrict each team to a single innings of 20 overs.

B. ^ The Essex Cricket Board played four List A matches at the County Ground between 2000 and 2003, including one match against Essex. The Essex Cricket Board is a separate organisation from Essex County Cricket Club and its matches are not included in the totals. The match between the Board team and Essex CCC is excluded as the Board team were officially the home team.

References

1. Marshall, Ian (2015). Playfair Cricket Annual 2015. Hachette UK. p. 1876. ISBN 978-1472212184.
2. "List A Matches played by Essex". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
3. "Twenty20 Matches played by Essex". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
4. Glover, Andrew (10 April 2013). "Remembering Yorkshire County Cricket Club's out grounds". BBC News. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
5. Stockton, Edward (13 June 2006). "Out of town but not out of favour". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
6. "Other Matches played on County Ground, Leyton (164)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
7. "Southend Cricket Festival is axed by Essex". The Echo. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
8. "Essex switch Festival venue". BBC Sport. 30 September 2004. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
9. "Essex decide to scrap 2012 Southend Cricket Festival". BBC Sport. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
10. "Essex drop Colchester Festival for 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
11. Jennings, Ryan (29 November 2018). "Colchester Cricket Festival suspended again next season". www.gazette-news.co.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
12. "County Ground, Leyton". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
13. "First-Class Matches played on County Ground, Leyton (407)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
14. "List A Matches played on County Ground, Leyton (10)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
15. "Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
16. "First-Class Matches played on Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea (130)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
17. "List A Matches played on Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea (28)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
18. "Castle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
19. "First-Class Matches played on Castle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester (123)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
20. "List A Matches played on Castle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester (46)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
21. "Twenty20 Matches played on Castle Park Cricket Ground, Colchester (1)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
22. "Old County Ground, Brentwood". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
23. "First-Class Matches played on Old County Ground, Brentwood (58)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
24. "List A Matches played on Old County Ground, Brentwood (2)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
25. "Valentine's Park, Ilford". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
26. "First-Class Matches played on Valentine's Park, Ilford (116)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
27. "List A Matches played on Valentine's Park, Ilford (37)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
28. "Garrison A Cricket Ground, Colchester". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
29. "First-Class Matches played on Garrison A Cricket Ground, Colchester (25)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
30. "List A Matches played on Garrison A Cricket Ground, Colchester (2)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
31. "County Ground, Chelmsford". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
32. "First-Class Matches played on County Ground, Chelmsford (363)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
33. "List A Matches played on County Ground, Chelmsford (350)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
34. "Twenty20 Matches played on County Ground, Chelmsford (76)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
35. "Vista Road Recreation Ground, Clacton-on-Sea". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
36. "First-Class Matches played on Vista Road Recreation Ground, Clacton-on-Sea (60)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
37. "Chalkwell Park, Westcliff-on-Sea". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
38. "First-Class Matches played on Chalkwell Park, Westcliff-on-Sea (69)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
39. "List A Matches played on Chalkwell Park, Westcliff-on-Sea (8)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
40. "Gidea Park Sports Ground, Romford". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
41. "First-Class Matches played on Gidea Park Sports Ground, Romford (34)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
42. "Hoffman's Sports and Social Club Ground, Chelmsford". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
43. "First-Class Matches played on Hoffman's Sports and Social Club Ground, Chelmsford (3)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
44. "List A Matches played on Hoffman's Sports and Social Club Ground, Chelmsford (1)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
45. "Harlow Sportcentre, Harlow". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
46. "First-Class Matches played on Harlow Sportcentre, Harlow (2)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
47. "List A Matches played on Harlow Sportcentre, Harlow (7)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
48. "Thames Board Mills Sports Ground, Purfleet". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
49. "List A Matches played on Thames Board Mills Sports Ground, Purfleet (4)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
50. "Garon Park, Southend-on-Sea". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
51. "First-Class Matches played on Garon Park, Southend-on-Sea (7)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
52. "List A Matches played on Garon Park, Southend-on-Sea (7)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 July 2015.