The Bristol County Ground (also known as Nevil Road and currently known as the Seat Unique Stadium for sponsorship reasons) 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.
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. 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 , designed by T. H. B. Burrough in 1960.
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. 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.
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, 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. 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.
Transport connections Ashley Down railway station opened on 28th September 2024 and is 0.3 miles from the stadium. Montpelier on the Severn Beach line is under from the ground. Mainline stations Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway are and , respectively, from the ground.
International centuries One-Day International centuries The following table summarises the One-Day International centuries scored at Bristol County Ground.
No. Score Player Team Balls Opposing team Date Result 1 140* Sachin Tendulkar (1/2) 101 Won 2 104* Rahul Dravid 109 Won 3 102 Ricky Ponting 101 Won 4 113 Sachin Tendulkar (2/2) 101 Won 5 106 Andrew Flintoff 121 Lost 6 102 Moeen Ali 57 Won 7 151 Imam-ul-Haq 131 Lost 8 128 Jonny Bairstow 93 Won 9 107* Ben Duckett 78 No result
T20 International centuries There has only been one T20 International century at this venue. No. Score Player Team Balls Opposing team Date Result 1 100* Rohit Sharma 56 Won
Women's One-Day International centuries The following table summarises the women's One-Day International centuries scored at Bristol County Ground No. Score Player Team Balls Opposing team Date Result 1 104Meg Lanning (1/2)9823 July 2015Won 2 106*Suzie Bates 10924 June 2017Won 3 178*Chamari Atapattu14329 June 2017Lost 4 152*Meg Lanning (2/2)13529 June 2017Won5147Sarah Taylor1045 July 2017Won6148Tammy Beaumont1455 July 2017Won7106Poonam Raut13612 July 2017Lost8107Sophia Dunkley9315 July 2022Won
See also List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
References
External links Cricketer Magazine - Centenary at Ashley Down