New Road

Ground information
Location	Worcester, Worcestershire, England
Establishment	1896
Capacity	5,500
End names
New Road End Diglis End
International information
First ODI	13 June 1983:  West Indies v  Zimbabwe
Last ODI	22 May 1999:  Sri Lanka v  Zimbabwe
First women's Test	30 June – 3 July 1951:  England v  Australia
Last women's Test	10–13 July 2009:  England v  Australia
First WODI	1 July 2000:  England v  South Africa
Last WODI	19 September 2021:  England v  New Zealand
Team information
Worcestershire (1896–present)
As of 19 September 2021 Source: cricinfo

New Road is a cricket ground in the English city of Worcester. It has been the home ground of Worcestershire County Cricket Club since 1896. Since October 2017 the ground has been known for sponsorship purposes as Blackfinch New Road following a five-year sponsorship arrangement with Blackfinch Investments.^[1]

Overview

The ground is situated in central Worcester, on the west bank of the River Severn, overlooked by Worcester Cathedral on the opposite bank. Immediately to the northwest is a road called New Road, part of the A44, hence the name. To the northwest is Cripplegate Park.

Until 1976, the ground was owned by the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral. The capacity of the ground is 4,500, small by first-class standards.^{[citation needed]}

There is a small cricket shop located just outside the ground, selling cricket equipment, clothing, books and accessories. This shop opened in July 2008, replacing a long-standing older shop inside the ground. The shop also contains the administrative office for ticket sales and enquiries.^{[citation needed]}

The ground is often flooded in winter by the nearby river, and was severely affected by the floods of July 2007, leading to the cancellation of several matches, and losses that were estimated to take nine years to recoup.^{[citation needed]}

Elton John performed at Worcester Cricket Ground in June 2006.^[2]

International cricket

New Road has hosted three men's One Day Internationals: one in the 1983 World Cup, when Gordon Greenidge scored 105 not out (the only ever men's international century at the ground) to take the West Indies to an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe;^[3] and two in the 1999 World Cup: a six-wicket victory for Australia over Scotland^[4] and a four-wicket victory for Sri Lanka over Zimbabwe.^[5]

The ground has also seen nine Women's Test matches between 1951 and 2009, including the England Women's decisive victory during the 2005 Ashes, in which Katherine Brunt scored 52 and took match figures of 9/111;^[6][7] Brunt also took a first-innings 6/69 in the 2009 Ashes Test at Worcester, which was drawn.^[8][9] It has staged two Women's ODI in 2000 and 2019.^[10]

The England Lions (formerly England A) played a four-day match against the Australian touring side at New Road in 2009; in a drawn match, Mike Hussey (150) and Marcus North (191 not out) made runs, while Worcestershire's Stephen Moore responded with 120; Brett Lee took 6/76.^[11]

Records

Men's One-Day Internationals

• Matches: 3
• Highest team total:
  218/2 (48.3 overs) by West Indies v. Zimbabwe, 1983^[3]
• Lowest team total:
  181/7 (50 overs) by Scotland v. Australia, 1999^[4]
• Highest individual innings:
  105* by Gordon Greenidge for West Indies v. Zimbabwe, 1983^[3]
• Best bowling in an innings:
  3–30 by Pramodya Wickramasinghe for Sri Lanka v. Zimbabwe, 1999^[5]

Women's Tests

• Matches: 9
• Highest team total:
  427/4 declared by Australia Women v. England Women, 1998^[12]
• Lowest team total:
  63 by New Zealand Women v. England Women, 1954^[13]
• Highest individual innings:
  190 by Sandhya Agarwal, India Women v. England Women, 1986^[14]
• Best bowling in an innings:
  7/34 by Gill McConway, England Women v. India Women, 1986^[14]
• Best bowling in a match:
  9/107 by Mary Duggan for England Women v. Australia Women, 1951^[15]
  9/111 by Katherine Brunt for England Women v. Australia Women, 2005^[7]

First-class

• Highest team total:
  701/4 declared by Leicestershire v. Worcestershire, 1906^[16]
  701/6 declared by Worcestershire v Surrey, 2007^[17]
• Lowest team total:
  30 by Hampshire v. Worcestershire, 1903^[18]
• Triple centuries:
  331* by Jack Robertson for Middlesex v. Worcestershire, 1949^[19]
  315* by Graeme Hick for Worcestershire v. Durham, 2002^[20]
  311* by Glenn Turner for Worcestershire v. Warwickshire, 1982^[21]
• Ten wickets in an innings:
  10–51 by Jack Mercer for Glamorgan v. Worcestershire, 1936^[22]
  10–76 by Jack White for Somerset v. Worcestershire, 1921^[23]
• Fifteen wickets in a match:
  15–106 by Reg Perks for Worcestershire v. Essex, 1937^[24]
  15–175 by Jack White for Somerset v. Worcestershire, 1921^[23]

List A

• Highest team total:
  404/3 (60 overs) by Worcestershire v. Devon, 1987^[25]
• Lowest team total:
  45 (23.4 overs) by Hampshire v. Worcestershire, 1988^[26]
• Highest individual innings:
  172* by Graeme Hick v. Devon, 1987^[25]
• Best bowling in an innings:
  6–14 by Jack Flavell for Worcestershire v. Lancashire, 1963^[27]
  6–14 by Howard Cooper for Yorkshire v. Worcestershire, 1975^[28]
  6–16 by Shoaib Akhtar for Worcestershire v. Gloucestershire, 2005^[29]