Top 5 most beautiful cricket grounds in the world

Cricket is a gentlemen’s game. But the game cannot be played without a proper stadium. There are some criteria to determine the excellence of a stadium. Some of them are lighting, crowd capacity, pitches, facilities, aerial view etc. Modern grounds contain all the basic ingredients. But very few of them got much beyond the basics. They have a name for themselves in cricketing history. These famous cricket grounds have rich cricketing history. To provide more insight to our readers, here I am with top 5 most beautiful cricket grounds in the world.

When people think about the most beautiful cricket stadiums in the world, names such as the Oval, Lords, the MCG, the SCG and the Eden Gardens come to mind. These are the prime venues for international cricket. These are of course the popular ones. However, there are several beautiful cricket stadiums across the world. May be they are not so well known, but have unparalleled beauty. These grounds host fewer international matches, and relatively less honor. Their view is a treat to watch.

Most of these grounds are located around nature. Like at the foothills of mountains, alongside seas etc. Sadly, these grounds are not rewarded with deserving recognition. Here, we look at the top 5 most beautiful cricket grounds in the world.

(You may also like our post Top 10 Biggest Cricket Grounds in the world).

1. Queenstown Events Centre, Otago, New Zealand:

Queenstown Events Centre is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Queenstown, Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. Ground is surrounded by farmland and nestles in the foothills of the stunning mountain range. They are aptly named, and the ground is situated in a very picturesque area, near Lake Wakatipu.
On January 1st 2014, at this very ground New Zealand’s Corey Anderson broke Shahid Afridi’s 17 year old record of the fastest ODI hundred by one ball. He scored his century in 36 balls. For more information click here.

Ground Information:

• Location: Joe O’connell Drive, Frankton, Queenstown, New Zealand.
• Capacity: 19,000.
• Teams: New Zealand.

2. HPCA Stadium, Dharamshala, India:

HPCA (Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association) Stadium is a cricket stadium located in the city of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, India. Adjectives like Stunning, breathtaking and awesome roll out as one enters the most beautiful ground in India. A small and glittering green plate, the ground has a snow-capped background in the form of the Dauladhar hill-range. Its open and small-sized stands allow for winds to sweep across. It gives fast bowlers assistance in the air. The venue is the first in India to use winter rye grass scattered around the outfield. It prevents the grass from dying when temperatures fall below 10 degrees. For more information click here.

Ground Information:

• Location: Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
• Opened: 2003.
• Capacity: 25,012.
• Teams: India, Himachal Pradesh cricket team, Kings XI Punjab.

  

3. Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town, South Africa:

Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town is a South African cricket ground. It is a venue for Test and ODI matches. It is the home of the Cape Cobras. They play in the Sunfoil Series, Momentum 1 Day Cup and RamSlam Pro20 competitions. Newlands is regarded as one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the world. It’s overlooked by Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak. For more information click here.

Ground Information:

• Location: Cape Town.
• Capacity: 25,000.
• Teams: South Africa, Cape Cobras.

4. Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka:

Pallekele International Cricket Stadium is one of the newest cricket stadiums in Sri Lanka. It is one of the newest cricket stadiums in Sri Lanka in the newest the city of Kandy. The stadium has been renamed as the Muttiah Muralitharan International Cricket Stadium. In July 2010, The Central Provincial Council in Kandy unanimously made the renaming decision to honour the legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan. For more information click here.

Ground Information:

• Location: Pallekele, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
• Opened: 2009.
• Capacity: 35,000.
• Teams: Sri Lanka.

5. Arnos Vale Stadium, St Vincent, West Indies:

The Arnos Vale Ground is a cricket stadium situated in Kingstown, St Vincent. It is a multi-use ground and is also better known as the Playing Fields. It is the home ground of the Windward Islands. For more information click here.

Ground Information:

• Location: Kingstown, St Vincent.
• Opened: 2009.
• Capacity: 35,000.
• Teams: West Indies, Windward Islands.

(You may also like our post Top 10 Biggest Cricket Grounds in the world).

I hope you like this post. I made sure that all the grounds in the list host international matches. There were some better looking grounds but they were not used for international matches. The list is based on the “Natural Beauty” of the ground not the historical value.