Cricket is a sport where everyone remembers the batsmen, the bowlers, and the fielders but the ones who remember the venues where these players made cherishable memories.
Today, we at Cricwizz present to you some of the best cricketing venues that not only have a historic value, but they have also seen some glorious players playing the matches of their lives on those grounds.
**Note: The best figures used for the test matches are for an innings.
1) Lord's Cricket Ground, London
Commonly known as the Lord's, it is a cricket venue in St. John's Wood, London. The ground is named after its founder Thomas Lord and is regarded as "The Home of Cricket".
Perfect 👌#LoveLords | #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/gE1GMoOQYq
— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) August 14, 2021
Graham Gooch is the highest run-scorer at the ground with 2513 runs combined in 21 Tests and 11 Odis. James Anderson is the leading wicket-taker on the ground with 132 wickets in 25 tests and counting, 16 Odis, and two T20Is.
| Format | Highest Team Total | Lowest Team Total | Highest Individual score | Best Figures |
| Test | 729/6 AUS | 38 IRE | 333 Graham Gooch (ENG) | 8/34 Ian Botham (ENG) |
| ODI | 334/4 ENG | 107 AUS | 138* Viv Richards (WI) | 6/35 Shaheen Afridi (PAK) |
| T20I | 199/4 WI | 99 NET | 78 Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 4/11 Shahid Afridi (PAK) |
2) Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
The Wankhede, a stadium in Mumbai was the first venue to see the home side win a Cricket World Cup at home. Its capacity was 45,000 until the 2011 World Cup when renovations were made and the capacity was changed to 33,000.
It was also the venue that witnessed Ravi Shastri hit six sixes in an over. Sachin Tendulkar, the localite, has the most runs on the ground (1376), while Anil Kumble has the most wickets on the ground (50).
| Format | Highest Team Total | Lowest Team Total | Highest Individual Score | Best Figures |
| Test | 631 IND | 93 AUS | CH Lyod 242* (WI) | Ian Botham 7/48 ENG |
| ODI | 438/4 SA | 115 BAN | Sanath Jayasuriya 151* SL | Murali Kartik 6/27 IND |
| T20I | 240/3 IND | 135/7 SL | Chris Gayle 100* (WI) | Chris Morris 4/27 SA |
3) Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, Melbourne Cricket Ground or "MCG" is the second largest in terms of capacity and it is also the largest ground in the southern hemisphere.
The ground was used as a centerpiece in the 1956 Olympic Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and has also hosted World Cup games in 1992 and 2015. The ground has served multiple purposes and the Australians boast the ground as a proud landmark that glorifies Melbourne to the world.
Sir Don Bradman is the highest run-scorer on the ground with 1671 runs, while the highest wicket-taker at the MCG is Shane Warne with 102 wickets, 56 in tests, and 46 in ODIS.
| Format | Highest Team Total | Lowest Team Total | Highest Individual score | Best Figures |
| Test | 624/8 AUS | 36 SA | RM Cowper 307 AUS | Sarfraz Nawaz 9/86 PAK |
| ODI | 344/8 World XI | 94 ENG | Jason Roy 180 ENG | Ajit Agarkar 6/42 IND |
| T20I | 184/3 IND | 74 IND | David Warner 89 AUS | Josh Hazlewood 4/30 AUS |
4) The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
A rebuilt stadium is to come in place of the Old Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg and is also known as the "Bullring" because of its atmosphere.
Jacque Kallis is the leading run-scorer at the ground with 1871 runs, while the leading wicket-taker is Shaun Pollock who has picked 88 wickets overall at the Wanderers Stadium.
| Format | Highest Team Total | Lowest Team Total | Highest Individual score | Best Figures |
| Test | 7/652 AUS | 49 PAK | GS Blewett 214 Ai | HJ Tayfield 9/142 SA |
| ODI | 2/439 AUS | 109 PAK | Fakhar Zaman 193 PAK | 5/20 Shaun Pollock SA |
| T20I | 6/260 SL | 83 BAN | 119 Faf du Plessis | 5/24 Bhuvneshwar Kumar (IND) |
5) The Basin Reserve, Wellington
The Basin Reserve in New Zealand is the only cricket ground to have a historic place status and is also the country's oldest Test cricket ground.
The ground also has multiple purposes and has been used over the years for other sporting events, social gatherings, and also for concerts. As far as cricket is concerned, the ground has been hosting Test cricket only lately.
Ross Taylor is the highest scorer on the ground with 1357 runs in 18 matches (15 Tests, 3 ODIs, while the highest wicket-taker on this ground is Chris Martin with 60 wickets.
| Format | Highest Team Total | Lowest Team Total | Highest Individual score | Best Figures |
| Test | 680/8 NZ | Brendan McCullum 302 | Richard Hadlee 6/23 NZ | |
| ODI | 318/6 | Shoaib Mohammad PAK 126* Devon Conway 126 NZ | Terry Alderman 5/17 AUS |
The Basin Reserve has never hosted a Men's T20I match.
6) Sharjah, UAE
The Sharjah Cricket Ground in the UAE has seen a lot of action over the past few years. So much so that it is one of the grounds that has the most ODI matches.
It is the venue decided for the second phase of the IPL 2021 and will also be hosting this year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The ground has hosted the inaugural T10 league, quite a few PSL games, and it also hosted the 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup that was played between India and Pakistan, with the former winning the match and the competition.
Inzamam-ul-Haq has the most runs in Sharjah with 2564 runs, out of which 100 have come from two Tests, while the rest have come from 59 ODIs. Waqar Younis is the leading wicket-taker on the ground with 126 combined wickets in 4 Tests and 61 ODIs.
| Format | Highest Team Total | Lowest Team Total | Highest Individual score | Best Figures |
| Test | 690 NZ | 53 PAK | Brendan McCullum 202 NZ | Mark Craig 7/94 NZ |
| ODI | 364/7 PAK | 54 IND | Sanath Jayasuriya 189 SL | Muttiah Muralitharan 7/30 SL |
| T20I | 215/6 AFG | 56 KEN | Mohammad Shahzad 118* AFG | Shamiullah Shinwari 5/13 AFG |
7) R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
On the Khettarama Road, the R.Premadasa Stadium is one of Sri Lanka's most significant venues for cricket. The ground has hosted several high-profile matches like the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy Final between India and Sri Lanka, the 2012 ICC World T20 finals between Sri Lanka and West Indies, and also the semi-final of the Cricket World Cup in 2011 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
On this day, back in 1997 Sri Lanka made the all time highest Test score of 952/6 against India at RPICS, Colombo. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/J13Ze4vXmg
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) August 6, 2021
This is the ground where Sri Lanka registered a record total of 952 runs against India. Sanath Jayasuriya is the record run-scorer at the Premadasa Stadium with 3082 runs in 71 ODIs and 6 Tests.
The leading wicket-taker at the ground is Muttiah Muralitharan with 111 wickets combined in 57 ODIs and 6 Tests.
| Format | Highest Team Total | Lowest Team Total | Highest Individual score | Best Figures |
| Test | 952/6 SL | 86 BAN | Sanath Jayasuriya 340 SL | Rangana Herath 7/89 SL |
| ODI | 375/5 IND | 86 NET | Kumar Sangakkara 169 SL | Angelo Matthews 6/20 SL |
| T20I | 215/5 BAN | 80 AFG | Luke Wright 99* ENG | Wanindu Hasaranga 4/9 SL |
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