Sahara Oval St George's

St George’s Park Cricket Ground or Crusaders Ground or simply Crusaders in Port Elizabeth, South Africa is the home of Port Elizabeth Cricket Club, one of the oldest cricket clubs in South Africa, and of the Eastern Province Club. It is also one of the venues at which Test matches and One Day International are played in South Africa.

The ground hosted its first Test match in March 1889 when England defeated South Africa by eight wickets. This was South Africa’s first ever Test match. As of 2005, there have been 21 Test matches played at the ground of which South Africa has won 8 and their opponents 9 with four draws.

The first One Day International played at the ground was in December 1992 when South Africa beat India by 6 wickets. As of 2005, there have been 25 One-day Internationals played at the ground including five in the Cricket World Cup in 2003.

Official name

The ground's official name is "Sahara Oval" acknowledging a commercial sponsorship arrangement. However South African and other cricket fans continue to call the ground by its historic name, just "St George’s Park". It's nickname is "The Dragon's Lair" based on the famous legend of St. George.

ee also

*List of Test cricket grounds

External links

* [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/southafrica/content/ground/59159.html Cricinfo ground profile]
* [http://stgeorgespark.nmmu.ac.za/ St George's Park history website]