Table of Contents
Ground Guide by Cricket Tripper
History
The New Road Cricket Ground has been home to Worcestershire County Cricket Club since 1896. Since 2017 the ground has been known as the Blackfinch New Road Cricket Ground following a five-year sponsorship with Blackfinch Investments. The New Road Cricket Ground is on the west bank of the River Severn and overlooked by the characteristic Worcester Cathedral on the opposite bank. Its capacity of 4,500 makes it small by the standards of other first-class cricket grounds.
When people think of a classic English cricket ground, they will picture something a lot like what New Road Cricket Ground looks like. It is in the riverside, lined with trees and has Worcester Cathedral as a stunningly dramatic backdrop. Until 1976 the ground was owned by the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral, but then it was bought by Worcestershire County Cricket Club for £30,000. In 2008, the small cricket shop opened just outside the ground. It sells cricket equipment, clothing, books and accessories, as well as holding the administrative office for ticket sales and enquiries. This shop was to replace the older shop located within the ground. The ground is often flooded in winter due to the proximity of the river. The floods of 2007 severely affected the New Road Cricket Ground. It led to the cancellation of matches and losses that were estimated to take 9 years to make up for.
In terms of international cricket, New Road Cricket Ground has hosted three One Day Internationals. The first was in the 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup, when Gordon Greenidge scored 105 not out, making him the only male cricketer to score a century in an international match at this ground. His performance resulted in the West Indies taking an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe. The other two international cricket occurrences at New Road Cricket Ground were in the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, when Australia won against Scotland with a six-wicket victory, and when Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by four wickets. Despite only seeing three international men’s cricket matches, New Road Cricket Ground has hosted nine for women’s international Test Match cricket. This was all between 1951 and 2009 and included the England women’s victory over Australia in the 2005 Ashes. During this game, Katherine Brunt scored 52 and took outstanding match figures of 9/111. In 2009, she also took a first innings of 6 for 69 in the Ashes Test that year at Worcester. New Road Cricket Ground has also hosted two Women’s One Day Internationals in 2000 and 2019.
Other than a few small developmental changes, New Road Cricket Ground has retained its reputation and character, of an old English cricket club. Despite this, New Road Cricket Ground holds some impressive stats. To name just one, the highest totals recorded on this ground is 218 for 2 by the West Indies in 1983 against Zimbabwe, very closed followed by that losing team themselves with 217 for 7 on the same day.
Seating Plan
Below is a seating plan of Worcestershire's New Road:
Visiting the Ground - Travel
Stadium Map
This beautiful scenic ground sits right on the River Severn is the charming town of Worcester.
Driving
Post for Satnav: WR2 4QQ. There is limited parking at the ground, however, on matchdays the King’s School opens up its field as a car park as long as it hasn’t been raining. Failing that there are plenty of car parks near the stadium
Train - Public Transport
Worcester Foregate Street is the closest station to the Ground and is just 10-minute walk away across a lovely bridge. There are many trains running regularly from Birmingham and Gloucester.
Airports and Flying
Sadly Worchester does not have an international airport, however, just slightly to the North in Birmingham is Birmingham Airport. Birmingham airport is just 45-minute drive to the ground, or over an hour using the train.