Riverside Ground, officially referred to as the Emirates Riverside for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket ground in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is the home to the Durham County Cricket Ground and has also hosted several international matches over the years. Established in the year 1995, it can hold up to a total of 19,000 people at once. It will host three matches in the upcoming World Cup.
History:
In its first three seasons in the County Championship, the Club played in a variety of locations around the country, but the Riverside ground was pronounced ready for cricket in time for the 1995 season, even though many of the buildings were still temporary or unfinished. The ground hosted its first match on 18 May 1995 and it was played between Durham and Warwickshire. In April 2015, planning permission was granted to erect stuff permanent 55-metre floodlights around the ground. While on 16 September 2017, during the Riverside Ground hosting of England's Twenty20 international match against West Indies, a stand in the North-East Terrace partially collapsed. Three spectators were injured, and part of the stand was evacuated.
Ground:
The Riverside Ground is a long walk from the train station or bus and, once there, spectators face a long day if exposed to the cold. And exposed is the word: the stands around three-quarters of the ground are fairly low. The old ground had a limited capacity, nearly 5000 watched the 1972 Gillette Cup tie against Surrey. In 2000, more than 15,000 watched an England ODI, although their capacity was expanded to nearly 19,000; which included a fair amount of temporary seating.
Profile:
The first significant match played at Chester-le-Street, was when Durham took on the touring New Zealanders in 1992, but it was when Durham was awarded the first-class status back in 1992 that the development really took off. And an international-standard stadium has now been constructed. The hard work was rewarded in 1999 when the ground was awarded two matches in the World Cup, and the following year, England played a NatWest Series game. And in 2003, it became the newest Test venue in the country.
Records:
Tests: In the Test matches played at this particular ground, the highest team total is scored is 569 runs scored by England against West Indies in 2009. The first match was played between England and Zimbabwe on 5-7 June 2003. The highest run-getters are Alastair Cook (315 runs), Ian Bell (292 runs) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (276 runs). The highest wicket takers on this ground are James Anderson (25 wickets), Stuart Broad (19 wickets) and Steve Harmison (16 wickets). The last match was played between England and Sri Lanka on 27-30 May 2016.
One-Day internationals: The first ODI on this ground was posted between Pakistan and Scotland on 20 May 1999. The highest team total is 314 runs scored by England against Australia on 21 June 2018. The highest run-getters in this format are Ian Bell (206 runs), Jonny Bairstow (162 runs) and Marcus Trescothick (160 runs). The highest wicket takers are Graeme Swann (9 wickets), James Anderson (8 wickets) and Tim Bresnan (7 wickets). The last ODI was played between England and Australia on 21 June 2018.
T20Is: Out of all the T20 internationals at the Riverside Ground, the highest team total is 195 scored by England against Australia on 31 May 2013. The first match was played between England and South Africa on 20 August 2008. The highest run-getters are Alex Hales (148 runs), David Warner (53 runs) and Evin Lewis (51 runs). The highest wicket takers are Jade Dernbach (5 wickets), Carlos Brathwaite (3 wickets) and Fawad Ahmed (3 wickets). The last T20 match was played between England and West Indies on 16 September 2017.
Fixtures:
Here is the list of fixtures for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 that are ought to be played at the Riverside Ground:
Team 1 | Team 2 | Date | Time (IST) |
South Africa | Sri Lanka | 28 June 2019 | 15:00 |
Sri Lanka | West Indies | 01 July 2019 | 15:00 |
England | New Zealand | 03 July 2019 | 15:00 |
