Sussex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Sussex. Although Sussex representative sides had been playing cricket since the mid-eighteenth century and had also played first-class cricket matches since 1815, the County Cricket Club was established on 1 March 1839.^[1] They have played first-class matches since 1839, List A matches since 1963, and Twenty20 matches since 2003.^[2][3][4][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" away from the club's main headquarters has diminished since the 1980s.^[8][9] 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.^[1] The ground was Sussex's main ground until 1848, when the Royal Brunswick Ground in Brunswick, Hove became the main ground.^[10] In 1872, the land of the Royal Brunswick Ground was required for the expansion of the town,^[11] so the club relocated to the County Ground, which continues to be the main ground for Sussex Cricket Club.^[10][12] The County Ground was the venue where Sussex claimed the 2003 and 2007 County Championships.^[13][14] 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.^[15]

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.^[16] 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.^[b] Eastbourne cancelled its proposed fixture in 2001 and did not host another county match until 2017,^[17][18] whilst Horsham was not awarded any matches for the 2016 season, due to financial difficulties.^[19] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of Sussex's matches in 2020 and 2021 were played at the County Ground.^[20][21] In 2020, Hampshire played some "home" fixtures at Arundel, as the Rose Bowl was being used by England.^[22]

The County Ground and Arundel Castle are the only two grounds to have hosted Sussex Twenty20 matches.^[19]

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[c]	27 September 1847 v England	47[d]	–	–	0	–	–	0	[23][24]
Lillywhite's Ground	Brighton	29 August 1842 v England	29 August 1842 v England	1[e]	–	–	0	–	–	0	[25][26]
Royal Brunswick Ground	Hove	13 July 1848 v Nottinghamshire	17 July 1871 v Surrey	59[f]	–	–	0	–	–	0	[27][28]
Petworth Park New Ground	Petworth	19 July 1849 v Surrey	19 July 1849 v Surrey	1[g]	–	–	0	–	–	0	[29][30]
Priory Park	Chichester	7 June 1852 v All-England Eleven	28 June 1950 v Glamorgan	16[h]	–	–	0	–	–	0	[31][32]
E Tredcroft's Ground	Horsham	11 August 1853 v Marylebone Cricket Club	6 August 1855 v Marylebone Cricket Club	3	–	–	0	–	–	0	[33][34]
The Dripping Pan	Lewes	4 September 1854 v United All-England Eleven	9 August 1860 v Marylebone Cricket Club	2	–	–	0	–	–	0	[35][36]
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	[37][38]
Central Recreation Ground	Hastings	4 September 1865 v Kent	16 August 1989 v Middlesex	143[i]	8 July 1973 v Yorkshire	20 August 1989 v Middlesex	14[j]	–	–	0	[39][40][41]
Ashford Road	Eastbourne	22 August 1867 v Kent	25 August 1873 v Kent	2	–	–	0	–	–	0	[42][43]
County Ground	Hove	6 June 1872 v Gloucestershire	– still in use	1,222[k]	12 June 1963 v Yorkshire	– still in use	399[l]	18 June 2003 v Middlesex	– still in use	96[m]	[44][45][46][47]
The Saffrons	Eastbourne	1 July 1897 v Middlesex	16 August 2000 v Northamptonshire	159[n]	19 July 1970 v Essex	24 July 2020 v Kent	35	–	–	0	[48][49][50]
Cricket Field Road Ground	Horsham	15 June 1908 v Essex	19 July 2015 v Nottinghamshire	104[o]	16 May 1971 v Leicestershire	9 August 2020 v Gloucestershire	34[p]	–	–	0	[51][52][53]
Manor Sports Ground	Worthing	26 June 1935 v Oxford University	10 June 1964 v Nottinghamshire	43	–	–	0	–	–	0	[54][55]
Arundel Castle Cricket Ground	Arundel	25 July 1990 v Hampshire	– still in use	34[q]	20 July 1972 v Gloucestershire	– still in use	20[r]	27 June 2006 v Hampshire	– still in use	7	[56][57][58][59]
Pagham Cricket Club Ground	Pagham	23 June 1976 v Oxford University	27 June 1979 v Oxford University	2	–	–	0	–	–	0	[60][61]
Horntye Park	Hastings	–	–	0	7 May 2000 v Zimbabweans	6 May 2001 v Kent[b]	2[s]	–	–	0	[62][63]