Bristol County Ground

The Bristol County Ground (also known as Nevil Road and currently known as the Seat Unique Stadium for sponsorship reasons^[2]) is a senior cricket venue in Bristol, England. It is in the district of Ashley Down. The ground is home to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.

"Seat Unique Stadium" redirects here. For the Seat Unique Riverside ground in County Durham, see Riverside Ground.

Bristol County Ground

Fry's Ground, Nevil Road
Ground information
Location	Ashley Down, Bristol
Coordinates	51°28′38.01″N 2°35′02.96″W
Establishment	1889
Capacity	8,000 17,500 for internationals[1]
End names
Ashley Down Road End Bristol Pavilion End
International information
First ODI	13 June 1983:  New Zealand v  Sri Lanka
Last ODI	29 September 2024:  England v  Australia
First T20I	28 August 2006:  England v  Pakistan
Last T20I	27 July 2022:  England v  South Africa
Only women's Test	16–19 June 2021:  England v  India
First WODI	21 July 1984:  England v  New Zealand
Last WODI	3 July 2024:  England v  New Zealand
First WT20I	25 June 2011:  England v  Australia
Last WT20I	15 September 2022:  England v  India
Team information
Gloucestershire (1889 – present)
As of 29 September 2024 Source: CricInfo

History

Initially known as Ashley Down Ground, it was bought in 1889 by W. G. Grace and has been home to Gloucestershire ever since. It was sold to local confectionery firm J. S. Fry & Sons and renamed Fry's Ground. The club bought the ground back in 1933 and it reverted to its original name. It was sold again in 1976, this time to Royal & Sun Alliance who renamed the ground the Phoenix County Ground for eight years before changing to The Royal & Sun Alliance County Ground until the ground was again bought by the club and took it up its current title.

The ground hosts One Day Internationals, usually one per year, with the addition of temporary seating to increase the ground's capacity. England faced India in 2018 and Pakistan in 2019 at the ground. In addition, three matches were scheduled to be played at the ground as part of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.^[3] Of these three, two were abandoned without a ball being bowled due to bad weather. The only match played was Australia v Afghanistan - a match Australia won by 7 wickets.

The ground has long boundaries in comparison to most county cricket clubs.

The former concrete roof over the public terraces, which has now been demolished, was formed from eight hyperbolic-paraboloid umbrellas each approximately 30 square feet (2.8 m²), designed by T. H. B. Burrough in 1960.^[4]

Redevelopment

In July 2009, Gloucestershire C.C.C. announced plans to redevelop the ground into a 20,000-capacity stadium, with an aim to retaining one day international status.^[5][6] The ground now includes a world class media centre and conference facilities. To help fund the project, student accommodation is included in the development. In March 2010, Bristol City Council gave the go-ahead for the new ground.^[7]

The following year, the club revised its plans due to concerns from residents on the adjacent Kennington Avenue over permanent stands at the boundary of their property. The permanent capacity was raised to 7,500 (8,000 including the semi-permanent Hammond Roof) with temporary seating increasing capacity to 17,500,^[8] but with other changes still implemented: new pavilion, new conference facilities and the construction of new stands (including the demolition of the Jessop stand and Tavern and the rebuilding of the Mound stand to a fixed capacity of 4,500) and 147 apartments in three blocks. These plans were approved on 31 May 2012 and development began in October 2012. The Bristol Pavilion opened in August 2013.^[9] Permanent floodlights were approved by Bristol City Council in April 2015, which were installed ready for the start of the 2016 season and which allowed the club to continue to host international matches as well as the four 2019 Cricket World Cup matches it was allocated.^[10]

Panorama of the County Ground in 2018 looking toward the pavilion

Transport connections

Montpelier railway station is under 1 mile (1.6 km) from the ground. Mainline stations Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway are 2.5 miles (4.0 km) and 3.8 miles (6.1 km), respectively, from the ground. Former station Ashley Hill was situated nearer to the ground but was closed in 1964. The station is due to reopen as Ashley Down on 28th September 2024. Construction commenced in March 2023.^[11]

International centuries

One-Day International centuries

The following table summarises the One-Day International centuries scored at Bristol County Ground.^[12]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Opposing team	Date	Result
1	140*	Sachin Tendulkar (1/2)	India	101	Kenya	23 May 1999	Won
2	104*	Rahul Dravid	India	109	Kenya	23 May 1999	Won
3	102	Ricky Ponting	Australia	101	England	10 June 2001	Won
4	113	Sachin Tendulkar (2/2)	India	101	Sri Lanka	11 July 2002	Won
5	106	Andrew Flintoff	England	121	New Zealand	4 July 2004	Lost
6	102	Moeen Ali	England	57	West Indies	24 September 2017	Won
7	151	Imam-ul-Haq	Pakistan	131	England	14 May 2019	Lost
8	128	Jonny Bairstow	England	93	Pakistan	14 May 2019	Won
9	107*	Ben Duckett	England	78	Ireland	26 September 2023	No result

T20 International centuries

There has only been one T20 International century at this venue.^[13]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Opposing team	Date	Result
1	100*	Rohit Sharma	India	56	England	8 July 2018	Won

Women's One-Day International centuries

The following table summarises the women's One-Day International centuries scored at Bristol County Ground^[14]

No.	Score	Player	Team	Balls	Opposing team	Date	Result
1	104	Meg Lanning (1/2)	Australia	98	England	23 July 2015	Won
2	106*	Suzie Bates	New Zealand	109	Sri Lanka	24 June 2017	Won
3	178*	Chamari Atapattu	Sri Lanka	143	Australia	29 June 2017	Lost
4	152*	Meg Lanning (2/2)	Australia	135	Sri Lanka	29 June 2017	Won
5	147	Sarah Taylor	England	104	South Africa	5 July 2017	Won
6	148	Tammy Beaumont	England	145	South Africa	5 July 2017	Won
7	106	Poonam Raut	India	136	Australia	12 July 2017	Lost
8	107	Sophia Dunkley	England	93	South Africa	15 July 2022	Won

See also

• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales

References

1. "The many shapes of England's cricket stadiums". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
2. "Gloucestershire's Bristol home renamed as Seat Unique Stadium after signing historic Ground Naming Rights deal". Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. 8 March 2022.
3. "ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 schedule announced". ICC. 14 June 2019.
4. Burrough, THB (1970). Bristol. London: Studio Vista. ISBN 0-289-79804-3.
5. "Cricket ground's future unveiled". BBC Bristol Sports. BBC News. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
6. "Club Statement to Members". Gloucestershire Cricket. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
7. "Go-ahead to expand cricket club". BBC News. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
8. "Gloucestershire County Cricket Club alters ground plans". BBC West. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
9. "Grounds for Celebration". Venue. Bristol. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
10. "Floodlight planning application approved". Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
11. "New Ashley Down railway station construction gets under way". BBC News. 7 March 2023.
12. "County Ground, Bristol / Records / One-Day Internationals / High scores". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
13. "High scores in T20I at Bristol".
14. "Batting records | Women's One-Day Internationals | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 July 2017.