List of Sussex County Cricket Club grounds

The County Ground, Hove, which was first used in 1872, and has hosted the majority of Sussex's matches.

Sussex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Sussex. Although Sussex representative sides had been playing cricket since the mid-eighteenth century and had also played first-class cricket matches since 1815, the County Cricket Club was established on 1 March 1839.^[1] They have played first-class matches since 1839, List A matches since 1963, and Twenty20 matches since 2003.^{[2][3][4][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" away from the club's main headquarters has diminished since the 1980s.^[8][9] In total, Sussex have played first-class, List A and Twenty20 cricket at 17 different grounds across the county.

The club's first fixture was played at the Royal New Ground, Brighton.^[1] The ground was Sussex's main ground until 1848, when the Royal Brunswick Ground in Brunswick, Hove became the main ground.^[10] In 1872, the land of the Royal Brunswick Ground was required for the expansion of the town,^[11] so the club relocated to the County Ground, which continues to be the main ground for Sussex Cricket Club.^[10][12] The County Ground was the venue where Sussex claimed the 2003 and 2007 County Championships.^[13][14] It is also the only ground in Sussex to have hosted international cricket; in the 1999 World Cup, a One Day International between India and South Africa was played at the ground.^[15]

In 1849, the club used a venue outside Brighton for the first time, when they played a first-class match at Petworth Park New Ground; the match against Surrey is notable for being one of Sussex's lowest aggregate scoring matches of all time, with only 287 runs scored.^[16] It was also the only time that Petworth Park hosted a Sussex match. Sussex have frequently used out grounds to host some of their matches, typically as part of cricket festivals. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, their main out grounds were the Central Recreation Ground in Hastings, The Saffrons in Eastbourne, the Cricket Field Road Ground in Horsham, and the Arundel Castle Cricket Ground (from 1972). After the Central Recreation Ground was demolished in 1996, Sussex also played two List A matches at Horntye Park, Hastings' other cricket ground.^{[lower-alpha 2]} Eastbourne cancelled its proposed fixture in 2001, and has not hosted a match since,^[17] whilst Horsham was not awarded any matches for the 2016 season, due to financial difficulties.^[18] The County Ground and Arundel Castle are the only two grounds to have hosted Sussex Twenty20 matches, and were also the only two grounds which host Sussex matches in the 2016 season.^[18]

Grounds

Below is a complete list of grounds used by Sussex 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 Sussex County Cricket Club since its establishment in 1839 are included 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
Royal New Ground	Brighton	000000001839-07-01-00001 July 1839 v Kent[lower-alpha 3]	000000001847-09-27-000027 September 1847 v England	7001470000000000000♠47[lower-alpha 4]	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[19][20]
Lillywhite's Ground	Brighton	000000001842-08-29-000029 August 1842 v England	000000001842-08-29-000029 August 1842 v England	7000100000000000000♠1[lower-alpha 5]	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[21][22]
Royal Brunswick Ground	Hove	000000001848-07-13-000013 July 1848 v Nottinghamshire	000000001871-07-17-000017 July 1871 v Surrey	7001590000000000000♠59[lower-alpha 6]	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[23][24]
Petworth Park New Ground	Petworth	000000001849-07-19-000019 July 1849 v Surrey	000000001849-07-19-000019 July 1849 v Surrey	7000100000000000000♠1[lower-alpha 7]	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[25][26]
Priory Park	Chichester	000000001852-06-07-00007 June 1852 v All-England Eleven	000000001950-06-28-000028 June 1950 v Glamorgan	7001160000000000000♠16[lower-alpha 8]	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[27][28]
E Tredcroft's Ground	Horsham	000000001853-08-11-000011 August 1853 v Marylebone Cricket Club	000000001855-08-06-00006 August 1855 v Marylebone Cricket Club	7000300000000000000♠3	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[29][30]
Dripping Pan !The Dripping Pan	Lewes	000000001854-09-04-00004 September 1854 v United All-England Eleven	000000001860-08-09-00009 August 1860 v Marylebone Cricket Club	7000200000000000000♠2	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[31][32]
East Sussex Cricket Ground	St Leonards-on-Sea	000000001857-09-10-000010 September 1857 v Marylebone Cricket Club	000000001857-09-10-000010 September 1857 v Marylebone Cricket Club	7000100000000000000♠1	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[33][34]
Central Recreation Ground	Hastings	000000001865-09-04-00004 September 1865 v Kent	000000001989-08-16-000016 August 1989 v Middlesex	7002143000000000000♠143[lower-alpha 9]	000000001973-07-08-00008 July 1973 v Yorkshire	000000001989-08-20-000020 August 1989 v Middlesex	7001140000000000000♠14[lower-alpha 10]	–	–	0	[35][36][37]
Ashford Road	Eastbourne	000000001867-08-22-000022 August 1867 v Kent	000000001873-08-25-000025 August 1873 v Kent	7000200000000000000♠2	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[38][39]
County Ground	Hove	000000001872-06-06-00006 June 1872 v Gloucestershire	– still in use	7003119600000000000♠1,196[lower-alpha 11]	000000001963-06-12-000012 June 1963 v Yorkshire	– still in use	7002388000000000000♠388[lower-alpha 12]	000000002003-06-18-000018 June 2003 v Middlesex	– still in use	7001710000000000000♠71[lower-alpha 13]	[40][41][42][43]
Saffrons !The Saffrons	Eastbourne	000000001897-07-01-00001 July 1897 v Middlesex	000000002000-08-16-000016 August 2000 v Northamptonshire	7002159000000000000♠159[lower-alpha 14]	000000001970-07-19-000019 July 1970 v Essex	000000002000-08-20-000020 August 2000 v Northamptonshire	7001320000000000000♠32	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[44][45][46]
Cricket Field Road Ground	Horsham	000000001908-06-15-000015 June 1908 v Essex	000000002015-07-19-000019 July 2015 v Nottinghamshire	7002104000000000000♠104[lower-alpha 15]	000000001971-05-16-000016 May 1971 v Leicestershire	000000002015-07-26-000026 July 2015 v Lancashire	7001330000000000000♠33[lower-alpha 16]	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[47][48][49]
Manor Sports Ground	Worthing	000000001935-06-26-000026 June 1935 v Oxford University	000000001964-06-10-000010 June 1964 v Nottinghamshire	7001430000000000000♠43	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[50][51]
Arundel Castle Cricket Ground	Arundel	000000001990-07-25-000025 July 1990 v Hampshire	– still in use	7001280000000000000♠28[lower-alpha 17]	000000001972-07-20-000020 July 1972 v Gloucestershire	– still in use	7001200000000000000♠20[lower-alpha 18]	27 June 2006 v Hampshire	– still in use	7000600000000000000♠6	[52][53][54][55]
Pagham Cricket Club Ground	Pagham	000000001976-06-23-000023 June 1976 v Oxford University	000000001979-06-27-000027 June 1979 v Oxford University	7000200000000000000♠2	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[56][57]
Horntye Park	Hastings	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	000000002000-05-07-00007 May 2000 v Zimbabweans	000000002001-05-06-00006 May 2001 v Kent[lower-alpha 2]	7000200000000000000♠2[lower-alpha 19]	–	–	5000000000000000000♠0	[58][59]

Notes

References