Newlands Cricket Ground

Sahara Park Newlands

Ground information
Location	Cape Town
Capacity	25,000
End names
Wynberg End Kelvin Grove End
International information
First Test	25 March 1889: South Africa v England
Last Test	14-17 February 2013: South Africa v Pakistan
First ODI	7 December 1992: South Africa v India
Last ODI	18 January 2011: South Africa v India
First T20I	12 September 2007: South Africa v Zimbabwe
Last T20I	13 October 2011: South Africa v Australia
Domestic team information
Cape Cobras (2005 – present)
As of 24 February 2013 Source: Cricinfo

Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town is a South African cricket ground. It is the home of the Cape Cobras, who play in the SuperSport Series, MTN Domestic Championship and Standard Bank Pro20 competitions. It is also a venue for Test matches. Newlands is regarded as one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the world, being overlooked by Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. It is close to Newlands Stadium, which is a rugby union and football venue.

The ground hosted its first Test match in March 1889 when England defeated South Africa by an innings and 202 runs. As of January 2011, there have been 46 Test matches played at the ground of which South Africa has won 17, their opponents 19 and 10 which ended in a draw. The last team besides Australia to beat South Africa there was New Zealand, in 1961 [1].

The first One Day International played at the ground was in December 1992 when South Africa beat India by 6 wickets. As of January 2011, there have been 35 One-day Internationals played at the ground including five in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. South Africa has won 25 of its games there and lost 4 (India being the most recent opposition victor in 2011)[2].

Between 1991 and 1997 numerous changes were made to the ground. Large portions of the grass embankments were replaced by pavilions increasing the seating capacity to 25,000.

Newlands is one of the few cricket grounds in South Africa that tends to favour spinners. Most grounds tend to favour pacemen or batsmen, but the Western Cape has had a history of having very good spinners, a recent example being Paul Adams.

The ground has also hosted exhibition matches in Australian rules football. In 1998, a crowd of 10,123 saw the Brisbane Lions play Fremantle.

Official name

The ground's official name is "Sahara Park Newlands", acknowledging a commercial sponsorship arrangement. However, South African, and other cricket fans, continue to call the ground by its historic name, simply "Newlands".

History

The title deed for the land currently containing the ground was granted to a brewer, Jacob Letterstedt in 1845, who then presented it to his daughter, Lydia Corrina, as a wedding present upon her marriage to the Vicompte de Montmort.

The land, partly wetland and heavily wooded, was rented to the Western Province Cricket Club in 1887 for £50, with a twenty-five year lease being signed in 1888 and the rental increased to £100. Each of the club's life members contributed £25 towards the costs, and a further £350 was received in donations towards the construction of a pavilion.

The ground was levelled and officially opened with a two-day match between Mother Country and Colonial Born, which went on to become a regular feature. There was no scoreboard, and a pond existed behind the location of the current scoreboard.

Before the arrival of the Australians in 1902, which included Victor Trumper, the pine trees , which extended from the "B" field along Camp Ground Road and around the pavilion, were replaced by oak trees. This is the site of the current Oaks Enclosure, one of the most popular vantage points. A then-record crowd of 10 000 arrived to see the Test.

Gallery

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  Newlands overlooked by Devil's Peak

• 

  Newlands Ground

See also

• List of Test cricket grounds
• List of international cricket centuries at Newlands Cricket Ground

External links

• Cricinfo ground profile