Sophia Gardens (cricket ground)

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Sophia Gardens
File:The-SSE-SWALEC-Logo.jpg
Stadiwm SWALEC.JPG
The Really Welsh Pavilion
Ground information
Location Cardiff, Wales
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Capacity 15,643[1]
Owner Cardiff City Council
Architect HLN Architects[2]
End names
River Taff End
Cathedral Road End
International information
First Test 8–12 July 2009: England v Australia
Last Test 8–11 July 2015: England v Australia
First ODI 20 May 1999: Australia v New Zealand
Last ODI 27 August 2014: England v India
First T20I 5 September 2010: England v Pakistan
Last T20I 31 August 2015: England v Australia
Team information
Glamorgan (1967–present)
As of 16 September 2015
Source: ESPNcricinfo

Sophia Gardens (Welsh: Gerddi Soffia), known since 2015 as The SSE SWALEC for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in Sophia Gardens on the River Taff. It is home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club and is listed as an international Test cricket venue.

County cricket

The Cathedral Road End
Before the redevelopment
After the redevelopment

The venue is home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club which has played its home matches there since 24 May 1967,[3] after moving away from Cardiff Arms Park. A 125-year lease of the ground was acquired in 1995, with the previous leaseholders, Cardiff Athletic Club, moving its cricket section (Cardiff Cricket Club) to the Diamond Ground in Whitchurch. Beside the cricket ground is the large sports hall complex of the Sport Wales National Centre. Cardiff Corinthians F.C. have previously used the area for football. In July 2007, Glamorgan cricketer Mike Powell was granted his wish to have a rib, removed during surgery, buried at the ground.[4]

International cricket

Sophia Gardens has been an international cricket venue since 20 May 1999, when it played host to the 1999 Cricket World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand. From 2001 to 2012, the ground was a regular venue for One Day Internationals, hosting nine matches in 12 years, but it was not until 2006 that it hosted its first England match, the first match of the series against Pakistan on 30 August 2006. In 2012, the ground was named as one of three venues for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, along with The Oval and Edgbaston; it hosted five matches, including the opener between India and South Africa on 6 June 2013, and the semi-final between India and Sri Lanka on 20 June.[5] The ground also hosted two Twenty20 Internationals between England and Pakistan in September 2010, and it is due to host another against Australia in August 2015.[6]

On 11 April 2008, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that the venue would host a series of major Test matches over the next four years. It would host its first Test match on 8 July 2009 as the opening match of an Ashes series between England and Australia.[7] This made Sophia Gardens the 100th Test match venue. In July 2011, the ECB stripped the ground of its right to host the 2012 West Indies Test because of Glamorgan's late payment of the £2.5 million fee it owed for hosting the 2011 Sri Lanka Test.[8] The ground was originally set to host a Test match against New Zealand in 2013, but this was given up in exchange for the 2013 Champions Trophy.[5] The ground was chosen as the venue for the first Test of the 2015 Ashes series.[9]

The opening ball of the 2009 Ashes series, bowled by Mitchell Johnson to Andrew Strauss.

Stadium redevelopment

The SWALEC Stadium after the redevelopment
Outside of the stadium
The Really Welsh Pavilion

The £9.4 million cost to redevelop stadium was funded by with approximately half (£4.5 million) being provided in the form of a Cardiff Council loan.[10] It is possible that the revamped stadium could host seven Test matches, nine One Day Internationals and two World Cup games up to 2028, injecting at least £50 million into the local economy.[11][12] Construction of the redevelopment of Sophia Gardens began in April 2007,[7] and the redeveloped stadium was first opened for competitive matches on 9 May 2008, when the Glamorgan Dragons played the Gloucestershire Gladiators in a Friends Provident Trophy match in which the Gladiators won by six wickets.[13]

Stadium naming rights

The logos used at Sophia Gardens cricket ground since 2008
180px
Logo from March 2008 until June 2015
170px
Logo since June 2015

On 4 March 2008, Glamorgan Cricket Club announced a 10-year sponsorship deal with SWALEC, thought to be the biggest single sponsorship by a county cricket club, giving SWALEC the naming rights to the new stadium, worth in excess of £1.5 million over 10 years.[14]

In June 2015, ahead of the First Test of the 2015 Ashes series, the stadium was renamed as simply "The SSE SWALEC" in reflection of the ownership of sponsors SWALEC by SSE plc.[15] The new logo from June 2015 was designed to reflect the shape of the stadium.[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Pavilion Plaque, Sophia Gardens
  4. ↑ Powell buries his rib at Sophia Gardens
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 SWALEC Stadium awarded more international cricket
  8. ↑ Cricket: Swalec Test match loss is confirmed
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Atherton says Cardiff ground “too small” for Ashes cricket
  11. ↑ Cardiff to host Ashes Test match
  12. ↑ Cardiff to host Ashes Test in 2009
  13. ↑ Gladiators spoil Glamorgan’s opening-night party
  14. ↑ Cricket: Sophia Gardens ground to be renamed Swalec Stadium
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ SSE

References

External links

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