Emerald Headingley - Yorkshire Ground Guide

The two sports stadiums don’t share an entrance, with the cricket entrance being on the opposite end, on Kirkstall Lane. Their joint existence clearly shows the love of the two sports side by side in this northern city. Headingley Cricket Ground has hosted 77 Test cricket matches since 1899 as well as 36 one-day internationals, with the capacity for 18,350 spectators.

Headingley Cricket Ground has been home to The Yorkshire County Cricket Club since 1890. Before this, the team had headquarters in Sheffield. Since playing at this ground they have won 32 outright County Championship titles. Yorkshire County Cricket Club have dominated English cricket from this ground. Their most impressive run was their 7 Championship titles in the 1930s. This ground held its first-ever one-day international in 1973. On this occasion, England beat the West Indies by a single wicket, chasing 182. Another notable, but a less positive moment in the history of Headingley Cricket Ground, is the abandoning of the August 1975 Ashes Test. This was a result of campaigners digging holes in the pitch and pouring oil over one end of the wicket. They were campaigning for the release from prison of George Davis – who had completed an armed robbery at the London Electricity Board a year or so earlier.

A huge moment in the history of Headingley Cricket Ground is the breaking of the world record for an individual Test score with 334 in July 1930. The Australian legend still holds the title of the highest Test run-scorer at Headingley with 963 runs. The closest anyone has got to this title so far is Geoff Boycott, who scored 897 Test runs at Headingley in the 1977 Ashes Test, which included his hundredth first-class 100 runs.

In terms of redevelopments of the ground, Headingley Cricket Ground was rebuilt after a fire destroyed the main stand (shared by both stadiums) on Good Friday in 1932. A new dressing room and club offices in the North-East corner were built. At this point, the ground was owned by a group of businessmen and sports lovers, led by Lord Hawke (which he bought for £25,000), and used for six sports; cricket, rugby, football, tennis, bowls and cycling. In 2005, Yorkshire County Cricket Club became sole owners of the Headingley Cricket Ground, after having financial support from Leeds City Council and the club chairman Colin Graves. 5 years later, they spent £7 million on building a new pavilion in the North-West corner, with the help of Leeds Beckett University. Known as the Carnegie Pavilion, it is now used for student teaching uses for many of the sports-related degrees that the university provides, as well as changing rooms. In total, the build cost £21 million.

Below is a seating plan of Yorkshire's Emerald Headingley:

Postcode for Satnav is LS6 3BR. But as with most cricket grounds there is limited parking at the ground itself, as it’s reserved for players and officials. There is limited parking at car park K and F, but is allocated on a first come first serve basis. You be better off parking near the city center and getting the Metro to the ground.

The 2 nearest train stations are Headingley and Burley Park,  both of which are about 10 minutes walk from the ground. Both of these are connected to the largest station in Leeds, Leeds Station, which is a 50-minute walk or 10-minute drive away. If you are getting a train from anywhere outside of Leeds you’ll probably end up at Leeds Station but can easily make your way to the ground via the Metro stops or regular buses.

The nearest airport is Leeds Bradford Airport which is just a 20-minute car ride or a 1-hour journey on public transport.