Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is a stadium in North Sound, Saint George, Antigua and Barbuda. It was built for use in the 2007 Cricket World Cup where it hosted Super 8 matches. The stadium usually caters for 10,000 people, but temporary seating doubled its capacity for the 2007 World Cup. The stadium is named after former West Indies cricket captain Vivian Richards.
Location The stadium is about 10–20 minutes' drive from the largest city, St. John's, and the country's international airport. It can be accessed from the Sir Sydney Walling Highway. The venue cost approximately US$60 million to build, with the majority of the funds coming from a Chinese Government grant. The first Test match staged on the ground began on 30 May 2008 when the West Indies hosted Australia, with the match ending in a draw.
Facilities The stadium constitutes two main stands: the Northern Stand and the five-storey South Stand. In 2008, the roof of the South Stand was damaged by high winds. Other facilities include a practice pitch for the various cricket teams, training infrastructure and a media centre. Sir Viv Richards Stadium is one of the few state-of-the-art venues that encompass underground passageways for the cricket teams to move about in.
Prior to the start of the first Test against England on 13 April 2015, the north and south ends were renamed for two former West Indies cricketers, Sir Curtly Ambrose and Sir Andy Roberts.
Outfield controversy The ground's second Test match against England on 13 February 2009 was abandoned after only ten balls due to the outfield's dangerous condition.
The groundstaff had applied extra layers of sand after recent heavy rain, and again after a brief shower the morning of the match; this resulted in West Indian bowlers Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards being unable to gain any traction when running in.
The sandy nature of the outfield had earned the ground the nickname of 'Antigua's 366th beach' in the buildup to the game.
Following the abandonment, inquiries were held by the WICB and the ICC: these caused great embarrassment for West Indies cricket.
The ICC subsequently ordered that the ground be suspended from staging any international matches for twelve months, and an official warning was issued to the WICB.
List of five wicket hauls
Tests Fourteen five wicket hauls in Test matches have been taken at the venue. No.BowlerDateTeamOpposing teamInnOversRunsWktsEconResult 1 Brett Lee Drawn 2 Sunil Narine Won 3 Kemar Roach Won 4 Ravichandran Ashwin Won 5 Kemar Roach Won 6 Shannon Gabriel Won 7 Ishant Sharma Won 8 Jasprit Bumrah Won 9 Jason Holder Drawn 10 Justin Greaves Won 11 Suranga Lakmal Drawn 12 Kemar Roach Won 13 Taskin Ahmed Lost 14 Milan Rathnayake Lost
One Day Internationals One five wicket haul in One-Day Internationals has been taken at the venue. No.BowlerDateTeamOpposing teamInnOversRunsWktsEconResult 1 Jason Holder Won
Twenty20 Internationals Three five wicket hauls in Twenty20 Internationals have been taken at the venue. No.BowlerDateTeamOpposing teamInnOversRunsWktsEconResult 1 Ryan McLaren Won 2 Hernán Fennell Won 3 Dillon Heyliger Won
2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup matches
Super 8s
See also List of Test cricket grounds Stanford Cricket Ground
References
External links Stadium overview on Cricinfo