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Gloucestershire County Cricket Club has announced that
they are investigating the prospect of selling their storied Bristol home field
and relocating to a specially built facility outside of the city.
Since 1889, when WG Grace gave the club land,
Gloucestershire has been based at the Nevil Road Ground in central Bristol.
Since the 1999 World Cup, England men’s and women’s white-ball internationals
have often taken place there.
But in recent years, drainage problems have plagued
the ground, forcing it to postpone its last four One-Day Internationals (ODIs),
including its two World Cup matches in 2019 and most recently, Ireland’s visit
in September.
Similar disruptions befell Gloucestershire’s domestic
season; their County Championship opener against Yorkshire in April was called
off on the third planned day without a ball being thrown. In contrast to their
£92,000 profit in 2021–22, the club lost £570,000 in the year that ended
January 31, 2023, according to their most current publicly available accounts.
Because of its strategic location, there are few
opportunities to improve the ground’s current infrastructure. Gloucestershire
has confirmed that a consultation is in progress in response to a report
published in the Telegraph last week that suggested the land could be worth £40
million if sold to developers.
“To ensure the competitiveness and long-term
sustainability of Gloucestershire Cricket, we must look at the possibility of
relocating the club and are now looking to enter into more active negotiations
around a potential move to an appropriate new site,” the club wrote.
“Whilst the current ground is still able to
deliver the very highest level of cricket and customer experience at Nevil
Road, we have to also prepare for the future. As we continue to grow, the
strain on infrastructure and facilities at Nevil Road will become increasingly
challenging, as will access to and from the ground.
“The opportunity to relocate is a highly exciting
prospect for the club to explore, one that would allow us to enter the next
stage of our history and thrive in the future as we continue to adjust with the
modernisation of cricket, how it is delivered and the diversification of the
overall business.”