Rose Bowl, Hampshire
Encyclopedia
The Rose Bowl is an English
cricket
ground used for county
, One Day International and Test Matches
. It is situated at West End, Hampshire
, near Southampton
, and is home to Hampshire Cricket
. The design of the venue is set into an amphitheatre creating a bowl, hence the name. It is one of two new county headquarters built in England in recent years, the first for many decades, the other being Durham's ground at Chester-le-Street
. The ends are called the Pavilion End and the Northern End. After well-publicised congestion problems in the early years, the venue has had a second access road built and issues over traffic egress have now been resolved.
The Rose Bowl also acts as a venue for conferences and big-name concerts. Recent acts to have performed at the Rose Bowl include Oasis
, The Who
, Neil Diamond
, Billy Joel
and R.E.M.
, Hampshire's home since 1885, no longer had the capability to do this. Land in West End
, just outside of Southampton
, was chosen as the location for The Rose Bowl. Construction began in March 1997 and was completed in time for the 2001 County Championship. The debut first-class match on the ground was against Worcestershire
, ending in a victory by 124 runs for Hampshire.
The Rose Bowl was also selected as one of three venues to host five matches in the ICC Champions Trophy
in September 2004, along with The Oval and Edgbaston. Five fixtures were played there, with the national teams of Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the United States and the West Indies playing matches there. It hosted England's first ever Twenty20 International
, played against Australia in 2005. To date the ground has hosted 10 One-Day Internationals and 2 Twenty20 Internationals.
In 2006 The Rose Bowl hosted a Twenty20 international between England and Sri Lanka and a One-Day International between England and Pakistan. Capacity was increased to over 19,000 for the 2006 Twenty20 International between England and Sri Lanka and 22,000 for the England ODI versus Pakistan.
In July 2008, the ground hosted the Twenty20 Cup
final, Middlesex
beating Kent
by 3 runs.
In August 2010, the ground hosted the 2010 Friends Provident t20
finals day, in which history was created when the Hampshire Royals became the first team to win the tournament at their home ground as they defeated Somerset
in dramatic scenes off the last ball of the match.
In June 2011, the ground hosted its first Test match, as England played Sri Lanka in the 3rd test of the npower Test Series. It created history, becoming the 10th English Test cricket ground, and the first ground to host a Test match on the South Coast. The ground's curator Nigel Gray produced 'an excellent cricket wicket', which offered good pace and bounce for the bowlers, and also plenty of runs for the batsmen. England seamer Chris Tremlett
took the first test 5-wicket haul at the ground with figures of 6–48, and Ian Bell became the first centurion, making 119. But unfortunately, a large amount of time was lost due to rain, and the match ended in a draw.
There are plans for the ground to host a Test match in 2014 between England and India.
In 2010, the first stage of this was realised as two new stands were completed around the ground, increasing the maximum seated capacity to 25,000. The development will also involve the erection of a 175-bedroom, 4-star hotel with 75 hospitality boxes overlooking the ground. It means the ground will become the first ever "Model" Test match ground, meeting the Club's ambition to become a "Beyond First Class" venue.
Also in 2010, The Rose Bowl was voted "Best International Ground" in an independent ECB
survey of fans around the country and was also voted the "Most Improved Ground" by readers of All Out Cricket
magazine.
. In 2004, the second XI pavilion on the Nursery Ground at The Rose Bowl stadium was officially named "The Arthur Holt
Pavilion" in memory of a great servant to the club.
. Part of the redevelopment of the ground will see the expansion of the current course to an 18-hole Championship Course.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
ground used for county
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
, One Day International and Test Matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
. It is situated at West End, Hampshire
West End, Hampshire
The Parish of West End in Hampshire is situated within the borough of Eastleigh, and to the north east of the city of Southampton. As well as the village itself, the parish contains the Chartwell Green suburb of Southampton....
, near Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, and is home to Hampshire Cricket
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
. The design of the venue is set into an amphitheatre creating a bowl, hence the name. It is one of two new county headquarters built in England in recent years, the first for many decades, the other being Durham's ground at Chester-le-Street
Riverside Ground
The Riverside Ground, officially called the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club....
. The ends are called the Pavilion End and the Northern End. After well-publicised congestion problems in the early years, the venue has had a second access road built and issues over traffic egress have now been resolved.
The Rose Bowl also acts as a venue for conferences and big-name concerts. Recent acts to have performed at the Rose Bowl include Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
and R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
2001–2011
One of Hampshire's aims was to attract international cricket. The old County GroundCounty Ground, Southampton
The County Ground in Southampton, England was a former cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season...
, Hampshire's home since 1885, no longer had the capability to do this. Land in West End
West End, Hampshire
The Parish of West End in Hampshire is situated within the borough of Eastleigh, and to the north east of the city of Southampton. As well as the village itself, the parish contains the Chartwell Green suburb of Southampton....
, just outside of Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, was chosen as the location for The Rose Bowl. Construction began in March 1997 and was completed in time for the 2001 County Championship. The debut first-class match on the ground was against Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
, ending in a victory by 124 runs for Hampshire.
The Rose Bowl was also selected as one of three venues to host five matches in the ICC Champions Trophy
2004 ICC Champions Trophy
The 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England in September 2004. Twelve teams, including the Test nations, together with Kenya, and – making their One Day International debut – the USA, competed in fifteen matches spread over sixteen days at three venues Edgbaston, The Rose Bowl and The...
in September 2004, along with The Oval and Edgbaston. Five fixtures were played there, with the national teams of Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the United States and the West Indies playing matches there. It hosted England's first ever Twenty20 International
Twenty20 International
A Twenty20 International is a form of cricket which is played over 20 overs per side between two national cricket teams. The game is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket...
, played against Australia in 2005. To date the ground has hosted 10 One-Day Internationals and 2 Twenty20 Internationals.
In July 2008, the ground hosted the Twenty20 Cup
Twenty20 Cup
The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...
final, Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
beating Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
by 3 runs.
In August 2010, the ground hosted the 2010 Friends Provident t20
2010 Friends Provident t20
The 2010 Friends Provident t20 tournament was the inaugural Friends Provident t20 Twenty20 cricket competition for the England and Wales first-class counties. The competition ran from 1 June 2010 until the finals day at The Rose Bowl on 14 August 2010...
finals day, in which history was created when the Hampshire Royals became the first team to win the tournament at their home ground as they defeated Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
in dramatic scenes off the last ball of the match.
In June 2011, the ground hosted its first Test match, as England played Sri Lanka in the 3rd test of the npower Test Series. It created history, becoming the 10th English Test cricket ground, and the first ground to host a Test match on the South Coast. The ground's curator Nigel Gray produced 'an excellent cricket wicket', which offered good pace and bounce for the bowlers, and also plenty of runs for the batsmen. England seamer Chris Tremlett
Chris Tremlett
Christopher Timothy "Chris" Tremlett is an English cricketer who plays for Surrey County Cricket Club. He is 6 ft 8 in tall and is a fast bowler able to extract bounce on most surfaces. He is a competent number 8 or 9 batsman, with seven first-class fifties to his name...
took the first test 5-wicket haul at the ground with figures of 6–48, and Ian Bell became the first centurion, making 119. But unfortunately, a large amount of time was lost due to rain, and the match ended in a draw.
There are plans for the ground to host a Test match in 2014 between England and India.
Development
In 2006, The Rose Bowl was awarded Test Match status by the ECB and at the same time announced a £45million development plan to turn the ground into one the best cricket and entertainment venues in the world.In 2010, the first stage of this was realised as two new stands were completed around the ground, increasing the maximum seated capacity to 25,000. The development will also involve the erection of a 175-bedroom, 4-star hotel with 75 hospitality boxes overlooking the ground. It means the ground will become the first ever "Model" Test match ground, meeting the Club's ambition to become a "Beyond First Class" venue.
Also in 2010, The Rose Bowl was voted "Best International Ground" in an independent ECB
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council...
survey of fans around the country and was also voted the "Most Improved Ground" by readers of All Out Cricket
All Out Cricket
All Out Cricket is a monthly English cricket magazine which features county and international players in a contemporary lifestyle manner. Published by the Professional Cricketers' Association and Trinorth, a specialist cricket publisher, it was launched in April 2004. It is edited by Andy Afford, a...
magazine.
The Nursery Ground
The Nursery Ground is adjacent to The Rose Bowl and plays host to Second XI and Academy matches. The Academy team plays its matches in the Southern Premier Cricket LeagueSouthern Premier Cricket League
The Southern Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in central southern England, and since 2000 has been a designated ECB Premier League.The league covers the counties of Dorset, Hampshire and South Wiltshire....
. In 2004, the second XI pavilion on the Nursery Ground at The Rose Bowl stadium was officially named "The Arthur Holt
Arthur Holt (cricketer)
Arthur George Holt was a Hampshire cricketer in the 1930s and 1940s, who also played professional football for Southampton...
Pavilion" in memory of a great servant to the club.
The Rose Bowl Golf Course
The ground currently has an adjoining 9-hole golf courseGolf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
. Part of the redevelopment of the ground will see the expansion of the current course to an 18-hole Championship Course.