Kingsmead

Kingsmead is located in the eastern port city of Durban, which is walking distance from the famed Indian Ocean shoreline. It is the home to Natal Cricket and has been the nursery for South Africa’s first family of cricket – the Pollocks.

The nature of the Kingsmead pitch is affected by the tide that comes in from the nearby ocean, helping swing bowlers. The stadium generally hosts the Boxing Day Test match and can seat around 25,000 spectators.

The first Test match at Kingsmead was played in 1923 between England and South Africa. The first ODI in this ground was held in December 1992. Kingsmead is significant to South Africa as it was here where the team played their first Test after returning to international cricket.

Kingsmead is witness to ten days long `Timeless Test` between England and South Africa in 1939 that ended without a result.

It was here that South Africa won by 129 runs against Australia, in February 1970, when Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards, thrashed the Australian bowling to all parts of the ground as they scored 274 and 140 respectively.

Allan Donald has one of the best bowling figures in this ground, with match figures of 9-65 in 1996.

In 2003 Kingsmead staged the World Cup semi-final between India and Kenya.

St George`s Park

St George`s Park Cricket Oval, the oldest in South Africa is located in Port Elizabeth and is home of Eastern Province Cricket. The stadium is known for the Duck Pond stand.

This is the smallest ground in South Africa. Prior to the 2003 World Cup the stadium was renovated that led to increase in seating and made the press enclosure one of the best.

St George`s Park was the first stadium to hold a Test match in South Africa in 1889. It was also the venue for South Africa’s first rugby Test in 1891.

The ground also gains significance for its up-beat brass band.

During World Cup 2003, the ground was home to one of the semi-finals, and hosted five games in total, including the high profile England versus Australia clash.

Newlands

Newlands Cricket Ground is host to Cape Town’s provisional, Test and one-day international matches. It is considered by many to be the most scenic cricket ground in the world. The ground is huddled under old Oak trees with Devils Peak towering in the background.

The redevelopment of the ground helped in increasing the seating capacity to 25,000. Newlands is one of the few venues in South Africa that assists spinners.

Newlands Cricket Ground was officially opened in January 1888 and hosted its first Test in March 1889 when South Africa took on England.

Newlands hosted its first one-day international in 1992 when Hansie Cronje captured 5 for 32 to help South Africa to a six-wicket win over India.

Newlands earned the right to stage the opening ceremony and match of the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

SuperSport Park

SuperSport Park is one of the newer cricket grounds in South Africa, having taken over from Borea Park as the home of Northern Transvaal in 1986. The stadium is situated in the town of Centurion, which is south of Pretoria.

The stadium can seat over 20,000 people and known to have excellent viewing facilities. It is also known for its excellent practice amenities and spacious dressing-rooms.

It became South Africa’s eighth Test venue in 1995, when it was host to the first match of the series against England.

Traditionally, the Centurion pitch has bounce but also encourages stroke-play. It could be breezy in these parts and the direction of wind, and cloud cover, assist the pacemen.

The ground hosted five World Cup matches in 2003, including the high octane duel in which India defeated Pakistan. In that very match Sachin Tendulkar struck a short-pitched ball from Shoiab Akhtar for a swash buckling six over third man boundary.

The Wanderers Stadium

Liberty Life Wanderers Stadium is the largest cricket stadium in South Africa. Located in Johannesburg, it is part of a larger Wanderers Sports Complex which includes a state of the art golf course. It is also the home ground for the Highveld Lions.

The stadium has a seating capacity of 34,000, and was built in 1956 to replace the Old Wanderers Stadium, making it the 41st ground to be used for Test cricket.

It was completely refurbished following South Africa`s readmission to international cricket in 1991. The pitch at the Wanderers Stadium is known for pace and bounce, very similar to other South African pitches.

In 1996 the existing 30 metres high floodlight poles were replaced by five new masts, each 65 metres high, allowing the stadium to host its first day-night limited-overs match against Zimbabwe in 1997.

Wanderers was witness to the greatest one-day international ever played till date, when a record 434 runs were made by Australia and then chased down by the host South Africa.

The Cricket World Cup 2003 final between India and Australia was played at the Wanderers Stadium, a match that was dominated by Australia.