Cricket venues across the globe have their unique features.
The Home of Cricket, Lord’s, has a pronounced slope. The Queenstown ground in New Zealand is right next to an airport, which provides a great backdrop of planes taking off and landing during play.
Some have a tree inside the playing area. That’s right, not in the venue but in the outfield. Here we take a look at these remarkable cricketing venues.
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
The City Oval in Pietermaritzburg.
The South African city is famous for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom struggle and, to a lesser extent, having a cricket ground with a tree at its boundary.
So what happens if the ball hits the tree? According to the venue rules, it’s a four regardless of where ball hits the tree.
The venue has hosted two international matches in its lifetime, both at the 2003 World Cup. One of the unique features about the venue is that any player who scores a century or takes a five-wicket haul gets to plant a tree at the ground.
St Lawrence Ground, Kent
The St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury.
St Lawrence Ground is the home ground of Kent Cricket Club. The ground had a 27m-high lime tree within the boundary ropes. However, in 2005 it fell during high winds after being weakened by fungus.
A new lime tree was planted as a replacement for the 200-year old fallen tree. It was placed inside the playing area but outside the boundary ropes.
Amstelveen, Netherlands
Lance Klusener fields at the VRA Ground in Amstelveen, Holland at the 1999 World Cup.
The VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen has hosted some high-profile ODI matches, including one match of the 1999 World Cup and the Videocon Cup in 2004 between India, Pakistan and Australia.
The ground has a massive tree right inside the playing arena. However, the Netherlands has not hosted many high-profile international matches over the last decade.
