Covering all aspects of cricket groundsmanship, this text sets the maintenance of modern cricket grounds in historical context by a survey of the groundsman's art since the 1600s. The work details the history of groundsmanship either side of World War II, looking at the modern role of agronomists and other scientists in the study of cricket surfaces. Subsequent topics include: the assessment of an existing table; pitch preparation; mechanized maintenance operations; fertilizer and top dressing; weed, moss, worm and pest control; renovation and repair; and care of the outfield. A chapter is devoted to the planning and construction of new grounds.

Across six of the seven continents on which cricket is played, there are some remarkable cricket grounds. From a tidal strip of sand outside the Ship Inn at Elie, in Fife, to the monumental Melbourne Cricket Ground with its 100,000 capacity, this book features the extraordinary places and venues in which cricket is played. Many grounds have remarkably beautiful settings. There is the rugged Devonian charm of Lynton and Lynmouth Cricket Club set in the Valley of the Rocks, not far from the North Devon coast. Then there is the vividly-coloured, almost Lego-like structure of Dharamshala pavilion in Northern India. In contrast there are under-threat cricket pitches in North Yorkshire, such as Spout House, where Prince Harry played twice, scored 16, and then got bowled by a 12-year-old. Many of England’s greatest players have come from public schools, and there are some wonderful examples of their cricket grounds such as Sedbergh and Milton Abbey. Country houses such as Audley End and Blenheim Palace form the backdrop to many cricket pitches, or castles, such as Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, or Raby Castle in County Durham. Sri Lanka’s test ground, Galle, has a fort looming above it, while Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, has the unmistakeable Table Mountain as the backdrop. Some of the stunning imagery has a modern feel. Queenstown cricket ground has international jets taking off just yards from the playing action, while Singapore Cricket Club is an oasis of lush green set against a 21st century array of high-rise towers. Then there are cricket grounds in unusual places; Hawaii, Corfu, Berlin, Slovenia and St Moritz to name but a few.

Ground Rules taps into the world's love affair with cricket, and explains how key cricket grounds around the world have played significantly in cricketing heritage since 1877. Each chapter takes a different Test Match venue from one of the ten test-playing nations--two each in the case of Australia, England, and India--and provides a fascinating, colorful account of the players, matches, and incidents that have shaped the history of test cricket at that site. Ground Rules: A Celebration of Test Cricket is beautifully illustrated with two hundred eighty large format color images--many of them rare--from some of the world's leading cricket photographers, including Patrick Eagar and Graham Morris, and renowned photography agencies such as Getty Images. The book also boasts a fascinating compilation of Wisden statistics--including the scorecards of every Test Match played at the featured grounds since the birth of international cricket. With a foreword by David Gower, the authors of each chapter include international cricketers Andy Flower, Steve Waugh, Sourav Ganguly, and Kumar Sangakkara; and celebrated cricket writers and broadcasters Donna Symmonds, Qamar Ahmed, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Peter Robinson, Richard Hobson, and Richard Boock.

From the history-steeped ‘home of cricket’ at Lord’s, to the mecca of Indian cricket at Eden Gardens, this encompassing guide ranges across five continents to bring you the best cricket venues the world has to offer.

From county grounds where Denis Compton hit a century to the smallest village field Britain’s Lost Cricket Grounds movingly shows how picturesque greenery gave way to shopping malls and housing estates. The cricket ground is as much a part of the British landscape as the parish church. Hastings used to have a historic ground in the middle of the town surrounded by elegant houses – but then recently it disappeared under a shopping precinct with a branch of River Island where the wicket used to be. Yorkshire used to play at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane – until the football club built grandstands over it. Like so many companies with works grounds, Guinness have closed their cricket ground at Park Royal and sold it for an industrial estate. Now, in a further addition to Aurum’s successful ‘Lost’ series, following Britain’s Lost Cities and Lost Victorian Britain, Guardian journalist Chris Arnot tours the country in search of our most lamented lost cricket grounds, hearing reminiscences from former players and spectators, and finding what, if anything, is left nowadays, apart from the poignant photographs of their picturesque heyday that make this a nostalgic and rueful trip back in time.

Presents aerial views of Britain's leading county grounds together with a history of each ground and vital facts and figures about the county.