New Road, Worcester


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.

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.
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.
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.
Elton John performed at Worcester Cricket Ground in June 2006.

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 to take the West Indies to an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe; and two in the 1999 World Cup: a six-wicket victory for Australia over Scotland and a four-wicket victory for Sri Lanka over Zimbabwe.
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; Brunt also took a first-innings 6/69 in the 2009 Ashes Test at Worcester, which was drawn. It has staged two Women's ODI in 2000 and 2019.
The England Lions played a four-day match against the Australian touring side at New Road in 2009; in a drawn match, Mike Hussey and Marcus North made runs, while Worcestershire's Stephen Moore responded with 120; Brett Lee took 6/76.

Records

Men's One-Day Internationals

218/2 by West Indies v. Zimbabwe, 1983
181/7 by Scotland v. Australia, 1999
105* by Gordon Greenidge for West Indies v. Zimbabwe, 1983
3–30 by Pramodya Wickramasinghe for Sri Lanka v. Zimbabwe, 1999

Women's Tests

427/4 declared by Australia Women v. England Women, 1998
63 by New Zealand Women v. England Women, 1954
190 by Sandhya Agarwal, India Women v. England Women, 1986
7/34 by Gill McConway, England Women v. India Women, 1986
9/107 by Mary Duggan for England Women v. Australia Women, 1951
9/111 by Katherine Brunt for England Women v. Australia Women, 2005

First-class

701/4 declared by Leicestershire v. Worcestershire, 1906
701/6 declared by Worcestershire v Surrey, 2007
30 by Hampshire v. Worcestershire, 1903
331* by Jack Robertson for Middlesex v. Worcestershire, 1949
315* by Graeme Hick for Worcestershire v. Durham, 2002
311* by Glenn Turner for Worcestershire v. Warwickshire, 1982
10–51 by Jack Mercer for Glamorgan v. Worcestershire, 1936
10–76 by Jack White for Somerset v. Worcestershire, 1921
15–106 by Reg Perks for Worcestershire v. Essex, 1937
15–175 by Jack White for Somerset v. Worcestershire, 1921

List A

404/3 by Worcestershire v. Devon, 1987
45 by Hampshire v. Worcestershire, 1988
172* by Graeme Hick v. Devon, 1987
6–14 by Jack Flavell for Worcestershire v. Lancashire, 1963
6–14 by Howard Cooper for Yorkshire v. Worcestershire, 1975
6–16 by Shoaib Akhtar for Worcestershire v. Gloucestershire, 2005