Sophia Gardens Cardiff, popularly known as the Cardiff Wales Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in Sophia Gardens, in the river Taff. It is home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club since 1967 and is also listed as an international test cricket venue. It is owned by the Cardiff City Council. The ground can hold up to a capacity of nearly 15,500 spectators at once. Wales is famous for its beauty and this ground is also not an exception to this fact. The Sophia Gardens had got its name from the wife of the Marquis of Bute.
History:
The venue is home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club which has played its home matches ever since 24 May 1967, after moving away from Cardiff Arms Park. A 125-year lease of the ground was acquired in 1995, with its previous stakeholders, Cardiff Athletic Club, moving it's cricket section (Cardiff Cricket Club) to the Diamond Ground in Whitchurch. In July 2007, Glamorgan cricketer, Mike Powell was granted his wish to have a rib, removed during surgery, buried at the ground.
Ground:
The exact place where the cricket pitch stands now has a colourful history, having once played to a “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show” and “Barnum and Bailey's travelling circus and menagerie”. But the ground has come a long way since then. The floodlights were installed back in 2005. The two end names are the River Taff End and the Cathedral Road End. The reconstruction work finished in 2008 and finally was granted permission to host test cricket as well. England and Australia played against each other on 8-12 July 2009.
Profile:
Glamorgan first played at the Sophia Gardens against the Indian touring team back in 1967. But it was not until the decades later that the ground officially became the County's home. In the year 1999, the ground played as hosts to a World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps it's most crucial game came in 2005 when the touring Australians were humbled by the Bangladeshis, who recorded a five-wicket victory that shocked the cricketing world as a whole. Australia came into the match on the back of back to back triumphs in 1999 and 2003 world cups.
Records:
Tests: In the Test matches played at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, the highest team total comes out to be 674 scored by Australia against England in 2009. The first match was played between England and Australia on 8-12 July 2009. The highest run-getters on this particular ground are Jonathan Trott (203 runs), Joe Root (194 runs) and Alastair Cook (181 runs). The highest wicket takers are Stuart Broad (10 wickets), James Anderson (8 wickets) and Mitchell Starc (7 wickets). The last Test match was played between England and Australia on 8-11 July 2015.
One-Day Internationals: the first ODI match on this ground was posted between Australia and New Zealand on 20 May 1999. The highest team totals on this ground are 342 runs scored by England against Australia in 2018. The highest run-getters in this format are Jos Buttler (307 runs), Joe Root (276 runs) and Jason Roy (254 runs). The highest wicket takers are Liam Plunkett (11 wickets), Hasan Ali (10 wickets) and Ravindra Jadeja ( 8 wickets). The last match was played between England and Australia on 16 June 2018.
T20Is: In the T20 matches played at this particular ground, the highest team total Comes out to be 182 scored by England against Australia in 2015. The first T20 match was played between England and Pakistan on 5 September 2010. The highest run-getters are Eoin Morgan (204 runs), Alex Hales (97 runs) and Steve Smith (90 runs). The highest wicket takers are Tim Bresnan (4 wickets), Dane Paterson (4 wickets) and Graeme Swann (3 wickets). The last T20 International match was played between England and Pakistan 5 May 2019.
Fixtures:
Here is the list of fixtures in the ICC Cricket World Cup that is ought to be played at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff:
Team 1 | Team 2 | Date | Time (IST) |
New Zealand | Sri Lanka | 01 June 2019 | 15:00 |
Afghanistan | Sri Lanka | 04 June 2019 | 15:00 |
England | Bangladesh | 08 June 2019 | 15:00 |
Afghanistan | South Africa | 15 June 2019 | 18:00 |
