The picturesque Hagley Oval will forever hold a unique place in World Cup history © Getty Images
Ten editions of World Cup cricket, spread across all Test-playing nations, have witnessed 99 grounds. Abhishek Mukherjee looks at the unique space in the annals of World Cup cricket history that awaits Hagley Oval, Christchurch.
As the 11th edition of World Cup cricket tees off with the encounter between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, the venue, Hagley Oval, Christchurch is all set to make its way to cricket history. The ten editions of World Cup cricket have been played across 99 venues: barring a complete washout, Hagley Oval will be the 100th.
The 1975 cricket World Cup started off with four matches on the first day, though the contest between England and India at Lord’s is usually accepted as the first match. The remaining three matches were played at Edgbaston, Headingley, and Old Trafford; Trent Bridge and The Oval also hosted matches in the tournament. World Cup 1979 was also played across the same six grounds.
The third edition, 1983, saw nine more county grounds being introduced. Hyderabad (Punjab) hosted the first match outside England; Chepauk hosted the first in India; Eden Park, in New Zealand; WACA, in Australia; and SSC, Colombo, in Sri Lanka. World Cup 1999 witnessed International Cricket Council (ICC) allocating matches outside England. Thus, Dublin became the first ground to host a match in Ireland; Edinburgh, in Scotland; and Amstelveen, in Netherlands.
As the World Cup moved to Africa, Newlands became the first ground to host a World Cup match on South African soil; it was also the first match played in the new millennium. Other “firsts” were Harare, Zimbabwe; Nairobi, Kenya; Sabina Park, West Indies; and Mirpur, Bangladesh.
Headingley has hosted the most World Cup matches (12). Edgbaston, Old Trafford, and Trent Bridge have hosted 11 each, and Lord’s and The Oval, 10. The most for grounds outside England is seven — a count shared by Chepauk, Chinnaswamy, Premadasa, Sabina Park, Gros Islet, and Kensington Oval.
Cities with two grounds
Country
City
Ground 1
Ground 2
England
London
Lord’s
The Oval
Pakistan
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
Pindi Club Ground
Sri Lanka
Colombo
R Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama
Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground
India
Chandigarh
Punjab CA Stadium, Mohali
Sector 16 Stadium
India
Nagpur
Vidarbha CA Stadium, Jamtha
Vidarbha CA Ground
In all, 14 countries have hosted World Cup matches, of which England and India have used the most grounds (20). South Africa (12) and Australia are the only ones to have hosted World Cup matches at more than 10 grounds. Four countries — Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, and Kenya, all Associates — have had World Cup matches at a solitary ground.
In number of matches, however, England’s count of 94 is way ahead of India’s 64. West Indies (51) and South Africa (46) are not too behind either, and both Australia (25) and New Zealand (14) would look to increase their match counts substantially by March 2015.
Grounds per country
Country
Grounds
Matches
England
20
94
India
20
64
South Africa
12
46
Australia
11
25
West Indies
8
51
Pakistan
8
26
New Zealand
7
14
Sri Lanka
5
14
Bangladesh
2
8
Zimbabwe
2
5
Scotland
1
2
Ireland
1
1
Netherlands
1
1
Kenya
1
1
Total
99
352
Finally, here is the list of all grounds that have hosted World Cup matches, in chronological order. It is to be noted that the first 15 grounds are all from England. Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong, was the 99th to host a World Cup match, and the list is all set to go up by one the moment Brendon McCullum or Angelo Mathews announce to bat or bowl.
List of World Cup hosting grounds (in chronological order)
Ground
City
Country
Matches
Lord’s
London
England
10
Edgbaston
Birmingham
England
11
Headingley
Leeds
England
12
Old Trafford
Manchester
England
11
Trent Bridge
Nottingham
England
11
Kennington Oval
London
England
10
St Helen’s
Swansea
England
1
County Ground
Taunton
England
3
Grace Road
Leicester
England
3
County Ground
Bristol
England
3
County Ground, New Road
Worcester
England
3
County Ground
Southampton
England
3
County Ground
Derby
England
2
Nevill Ground
Tunbridge Wells
England
1
County Ground
Chelmsford
England
3
Niaz Stadium
Hyderabad
Pakistan
1
Jinnah Stadium
Gujranwala
Pakistan
2
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk
Chennai
India
7
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium
Hyderabad
India
2
Pindi Club Ground
Rawalpindi
Pakistan
1
National Stadium
Karachi
Pakistan
6
M Chinnaswamy Stadium
Bangalore
India
7
Gaddafi Stadium
Lahore
Pakistan
6
Arbab Niaz Stadium
Peshawar
Pakistan
3
Wankhede Stadium
Mumbai
India
6
Nehru Stadium
Indore
India
1
Green Park
Kanpur
India
2
Feroz Shah Kotla
Delhi
India
6
Eden Gardens
Kolkata
India
6
Iqbal Stadium
Faisalabad
Pakistan
4
Sawai Mansingh Stadium
Jaipur
India
2
Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera
Ahmedabad
India
5
Sector 16 Stadium
Chandigarh
India
1
Barabati Stadium
Cuttack
India
2
Nehru Stadium
Pune
India
2
Vidarbha CA Ground
Nagpur
India
2
Eden Park
Auckland
New Zealand
4
Western Australia Cricket Association Ground
Perth
Australia
3
Pukekura Park
New Plymouth
New Zealand
1
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne
Australia
5
Seddon Park
Hamilton
New Zealand
2
Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney
Australia
4
Bellerive Oval
Hobart
Australia
2
Harrup Park
Mackay
Australia
1
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba
Brisbane
Australia
3
Adelaide Oval
Adelaide
Australia
3
Basin Reserve
Wellington
New Zealand
3
McLean Park
Napier
New Zealand
1
AMI Stadium
Christchurch
New Zealand
2
Eastern Oval
Ballarat
Australia
1
Manuka Oval
Canberra
Australia
1
Carisbrook
Dunedin
New Zealand
1
Berri Oval
Berri
Australia
1
Lavington Sports Oval
Albury
Australia
1
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
Rawalpindi
Pakistan
3
Reliance Stadium
Vadodara
India
1
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
Colombo
Sri Lanka
1
Captain Roop Singh Stadium
Gwalior
India
1
Indira Priyadarshini Stadium
Visakhapatnam
India
1
Moin-ul-Haq Stadium
Patna
India
2
Asgiriya Stadium
Kandy
Sri Lanka
1
Punjab CA Stadium, Mohali
Chandigarh
India
4
County Ground
Hove
England
1
St Lawrence Ground
Canterbury
England
1
County Ground
Northampton
England
2
Sophia Gardens
Cardiff
England
1
Riverside Ground
Chester-le-Street
England
2
Castle Avenue
Dublin
Ireland
1
Grange Cricket Club, Raeburn Place
Edinburgh
Scotland
2
VRA Ground
Amstelveen
Netherlands
1
Newlands
Cape Town
South Africa
5
Harare Sports Club
Harare
Zimbabwe
2
Chevrolet Park
Bloemfontein
South Africa
5
The Wanderers Stadium
Johannesburg
South Africa
5
Kingsmead
Durban
South Africa
5
Senwes Park
Potchefstroom
South Africa
3
Boland Park
Paarl
South Africa
3
St George’s Park
Port Elizabeth
South Africa
5
City Oval
Pietermaritzburg
South Africa
2
SuperSport Park
Centurion
South Africa
5
Buffalo Park
East London
South Africa
3
Diamond Oval
Kimberley
South Africa
3
Willowmoore Park
Benoni
South Africa
2
Gymkhana Club Ground
Nairobi
Kenya
1
Queens Sports Club
Bulawayo
Zimbabwe
3
Sabina Park
Kingston
West Indies
7
Warner Park
Basseterre
West Indies
6
Beausejour Cricket Ground
Gros Islet
West Indies
7
Queen’s Park Oval
Port of Spain
West Indies
6
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
North Sound
West Indies
6
Providence Stadium
Guyana
West Indies
6
National Cricket Stadium
St George’s
West Indies
6
Kensington Oval
Bridgetown
West Indies
7
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Dhaka
Bangladesh
6
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Sooriyawewa
Hambantota
Sri Lanka
2
Vidarbha CA Stadium, Jamtha
Nagpur
India
4
R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama
Colombo
Sri Lanka
7
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
Pallekele
Sri Lanka
3
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium
Chittagong
Bangladesh
2
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)