The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala is among the venues being used for the World Cup. Photo: Getty Images/Darrian Trainor
The list of the world's most beautiful test tracks has a new entrant into the top six. For over a century, Adelaide Oval has set the global standard; England were also able to offer examples such as Lord's and Trent Bridge. But this newcomer fits the bill.
Here is a ranking of the most beautiful cricket grounds.
6. Christchurch (New Zealand)
Born from the earthquake that destroyed Christchurch and its old rugby ground, Lancaster Park, which was also once the main cricket venue in the South Island.
After much resistance from residents who may not have known their history, Hagley Park was chosen: it was here that the first English cricket team to visit New Zealand played in the 1860s, and where a wooden pavilion dedicated to the game still stands today. built for their visit.
In sympathy with the surrounding residents, the new pavilion is only two-story, the stands are temporary, and there are no floodlights. However, the wind can howl, and it comes not only from the sea, but also from Antarctica, so the scene is not always as forested and moving as it might seem on television during the British winter.
5. Galle (Sri Lanka)
The land itself isn't special at all: just bare utilities and seats at odd angles. It is a view beyond that is unparalleled. Immediately in the foreground is the Fort, which the Portuguese opened for trade with Malacca, Batavia and beyond.
This is a World Heritage Site, so the original buildings — factories, as the warehouses were called — still stand intact, and the streets remain cozy. Here, in this dampness, is one of the few places in the world where religions coexist side by side.
Then, if you are watching from the pavilion, look away from the fort to the right and west, and you will see a fishing boat sailing home to the port, which is a few hundred yards from your house. on the left, and where you can see the «catch of the day» (not in the cricket sense) lying on the sidewalks for sale.
4. Queen's Park Oval (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago)
Other islands of the West Indies offer excellent conditions for test sites like Barbados and St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Dominica, and the clarity of unpolluted light at all of them should not be taken for granted these days. But Queen's Park Oval still takes the crown for what it has to offer in the foreground and background.
The stands and pavilion are nice enough, but the real highlight is what goes on underneath them during a crowded match: all the stalls selling street food like goat curry and real fruit drinks, machetes decapitating your coconut.
In the background is the Northern Range, raising your eyes and making you forget the violent riots on the streets of the capital of Trinidad. This combination will delight all the senses as Trini Posse dances on the party stand.
3. Newlands Cricket Ground (Cape Town, South Africa)
Smoke, but at least whitish smoke, is still billowing from the brewery located between the railway station and Newlands Cricket Ground. The rest of the view is unsurpassed, with Table Mountain beyond, often covered in cloud-like ice.
The slopes of the mountain are also stunning, with vegetation growing green in the gullies and then giving way to sparser bush towards the top. One of the world's finest botanical gardens begins the growth process of Table Mountain; and its mood changes throughout the day along with the background of the sky behind it, so that it requires constant observation.
You might even think about Mussorgsky and Night on the Naked Mountain if you miss the last cable car.
The Oval half-resisted the temptation to move into the stadium, but only half-resisted it. It depends on which end of the oval you are looking at the ground from. Situated at the end, where the remains of a grassy hill remain, it is a stadium with several of Adelaide's city center skyscrapers rising behind it, a testament to Australia's material prosperity.
But if you're sitting at the other end, with the River Torrens behind you, the vista is one of delight: a few Moreton Bay figs, a hill topped by a scoreboard built in 1911-12, its wooden planks still creaking with heat or wind, and beyond — Saint Paul's Cathedral.
Moreover, if you are at the top of the stand at the end of the River Torrens, you can look to your right and see the Adelaide Hills, now fairly bare and windswept, but hinting at the valleys beyond where German settlers planted their grapevines vines
1 . Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (Dharamsala, India)
Beautiful international cricket grounds are becoming fewer and fewer as the new ground is likely to be a stadium, a purpose-built concrete bowl surrounded by stands, perhaps with a roof over which you can't see anything. But the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association has built a ground on the side of a Himalayan hill at an altitude of 5,000 feet, defying modern trends. It is beautiful from both points of view, both up close and from afar.
Inside, the pavilion looks cozy, and its red roof is as bright as the robes of the Buddhist monks gathered here around the Dalai Lama; and on a less spiritual note, the food stalls are clean and varied. The nearby cricket ground also gives off a rural feel and the surrounding area is not logged. Then in the distance the mountains, seasonally snow-capped, rise above the camps of the Tibetans in their endless exile, onwards and upwards to the roof of the world, encouraging flights of fancy and freedom.
Do you agree with these ratings? What are your favorite cricket grounds? Tell us in the comments section below.
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