List of Somerset County Cricket Club grounds

The County Ground, Taunton is the headquarters of Somerset County Cricket Club, and has hosted the majority of their matches.

Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Somerset. The club was established in August 1875 and has played first-class cricket since 1882,^[1] List A cricket since 1963,^[2] and Twenty20 cricket since 2003.^{[3][lower-alpha 1]} Unlike most professional sports, in which a team usually has a single fixed home ground, county cricket clubs have traditionally used different grounds in various towns and cities within the county for home matches, although the use of minor "out grounds" has diminished since the 1980s.^[4][5] Somerset have played first class, List A, or Twenty20 matches at eighteen different grounds.

Somerset's first home first-class match was against Hampshire in 1882 at the County Ground, Taunton. This ground is the headquarters of the county club, and has hosted more Somerset matches than any other ground. It was originally known as the Taunton Athletic Ground, and featured a cycling/running track around the outside of the playing area which was later removed.^[1] Prior to the cessation of cricket during the First World War, Somerset only played at three other grounds; two in Bath, and Clarence Park in Weston-super-Mare. The Recreation Ground in Bath, the home ground of Bath Rugby,^[6] has been a regular setting for Somerset, hosting over 300 county matches. It is also Somerset's only venue other than the County Ground to have hosted a Twenty20 match.^[3] Clarence Park also frequently hosted Somerset matches until 1996, and has featured over 200 Somerset games. The next most frequently used ground is Morlands Athletic Ground in Glastonbury, where Somerset played 24 times between 1952 and 1978.

After the First World War, Somerset began playing in a wider variety of locations around the county, including three different grounds in Yeovil, and also hosted five matches at the Recreation Ground in Torquay, despite that being in Devon. They played in three different grounds in Bristol, which has been considered an independent county since 1373, though it was part of the county of Avon from 1974 until 1996,^[7] and where Gloucestershire County Cricket Club have their headquarters.^[8] After 1979, Somerset only played at the County Ground, the Recreation Ground and Clarence Park until 2012, when they faced Cardiff MCC University at Taunton Vale, their first new ground in 37 years. Somerset have not played a county match outside of Taunton since 2011, when they faced Essex in a Twenty20 match in Bath.

Grounds

Below is a complete list of grounds used by Somerset County Cricket Club for first-class, List A and Twenty20 matches. Statistics are complete through to the end of the 2016 season. Only matches played by Somerset at the grounds are recorded in the table. Matches abandoned without any play occurring are not included.

Name	Location	First-class			List A			Twenty20			Refs
		First	Last	Matches	First	Last	Matches	First	Last	Matches
County Ground	Taunton	000000001882-08-08-00008 August 1882 v Hampshire	000000002016-09-20-000020 September 2016 v Nottinghamshire	7002865000000000000♠865	000000001964-05-27-000027 May 1964 v Nottinghamshire	000000002016-08-17-000017 August 2016 v Worcestershire	7002379000000000000♠379	000000002003-06-13-000013 June 2003 v Warwickshire	000000002016-07-15-000015 July 2016 v Middlesex	7001680000000000000♠68	[9][10][11][12][lower-alpha 2]
Lansdown CC Ground, Combe Park	Bath	000000001884-08-18-000018 August 1884 v Hampshire	000000001884-08-18-000018 August 1884 v Hampshire	7000100000000000000♠1	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[14][15][lower-alpha 3]
Recreation Ground	Bath	000000001897-07-19-000019 July 1897 v Gentlemen of Philadelphia	000000002006-06-14-000014 June 2006 v Surrey	7002255000000000000♠255	000000001969-05-04-00004 May 1969 v Kent	000000002010-05-23-000023 May 2010 v Worcestershire	7001560000000000000♠56	000000002011-07-04-00004 July 2011 v Essex	000000002011-07-04-00004 July 2011 v Essex	7000100000000000000♠1	[16][17][18][19]
Clarence Park	Weston-super-Mare	000000001914-08-27-000027 August 1914 v Yorkshire	000000001996-08-21-000021 August 1996 v Durham	7002191000000000000♠191	000000001971-06-20-000020 June 1971 v Yorkshire	000000001996-08-25-000025 August 1996 v Durham	7001230000000000000♠23	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[20][21][22]
Knowle CC Ground	Bristol	000000001926-06-09-00009 June 1926 v Hampshire	000000001928-08-18-000018 August 1928 v Essex	7000300000000000000♠3	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[23][24]
Agricultural Showgrounds	Frome	000000001932-06-25-000025 June 1932 v Northamptonshire	000000001961-05-06-00006 May 1961 v Hampshire	7001180000000000000♠18	000000001970-06-28-000028 June 1970 v Leicestershire	000000001970-06-28-000028 June 1970 v Leicestershire	7000100000000000000♠1	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[25][26][27]
Downside School	Stratton-on-the-Fosse	000000001934-06-23-000023 June 1934 v Glamorgan	000000001934-06-23-000023 June 1934 v Glamorgan	7000100000000000000♠1	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[28][29]
Rowdens Road	Wells	000000001935-07-17-000017 July 1935 v Worcestershire	000000001951-07-25-000025 July 1951 v Warwickshire	7001110000000000000♠11	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[30][31]
West Hendford	Yeovil	000000001935-08-17-000017 August 1935 v Surrey	000000001939-07-15-000015 July 1939 v Lancashire	7000500000000000000♠5	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[32][33]
Johnson Park	Yeovil	000000001951-05-19-000019 May 1951 v Nottinghamshire	000000001967-07-29-000029 July 1967 v Essex	7001120000000000000♠12	000000001969-07-27-000027 July 1969 v Essex	000000001970-06-07-00007 June 1970 v Warwickshire	7000200000000000000♠2	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[34][35][36]
Morlands Athletic Ground	Glastonbury	000000001952-07-26-000026 July 1952 v Northamptonshire	000000001973-07-14-000014 July 1973 v Nottinghamshire	7001180000000000000♠18	000000001969-07-13-000013 July 1969 v Nottinghamshire	000000001978-07-16-000016 July 1978 v Leicestershire	7000600000000000000♠6	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[37][38][39]
Imperial Athletic Ground	Bristol	000000001957-08-21-000021 August 1957 v Sussex	000000001966-05-07-00007 May 1966 v Hampshire	7000900000000000000♠9	000000001971-06-06-00006 June 1971 v Gloucestershire	000000001979-06-10-000010 June 1979 v Gloucestershire	7000800000000000000♠8	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[40][41][42]
Millfield School	Street	000000001961-07-29-000029 July 1961 v Warwickshire	000000001961-07-29-000029 July 1961 v Warwickshire	7000100000000000000♠1	000000001975-05-10-000010 May 1975 v Gloucestershire	000000001977-07-03-00003 July 1977 v Hampshire	7000200000000000000♠2	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[43][44][45][lower-alpha 4]
Taunton Vale	Taunton	000000002012-03-31-000031 March 2012 v Cardiff MCCU	000000002015-04-02-00002 April 2015 v Durham MCCU	7000200000000000000♠2	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[46][47][lower-alpha 5]
Devonshire Park	Weston-super-Mare	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	000000001969-04-27-000027 April 1969 v Leicestershire	000000001970-08-09-00009 August 1970 v Kent	7000200000000000000♠2	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[48][49]
Ironmould Lane	Bristol	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	000000001969-06-15-000015 June 1969 v Surrey	000000001970-06-21-000021 June 1970 v Derbyshire	7000200000000000000♠2	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[50][51]
Recreation Ground	Torquay, Devon	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	000000001969-08-24-000024 August 1969 v Sussex	000000001975-07-13-000013 July 1975 v Northamptonshire	7000500000000000000♠5	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[52][53][lower-alpha 6]
Westlands Sports Ground	Yeovil	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	000000001971-05-23-000023 May 1971 v Lancashire	000000001978-05-21-000021 May 1978 v Surrey	7000800000000000000♠8	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[55][56]

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Powell, William A. (2003). The Official ECB Guide to Cricket Grounds. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3084-5.