The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton

Home to Somerset County Cricket Club, the County Ground is located within Taunton was established in 1882, but the first championship match was played here in 1891. The stadium is surrounded by the towers of three churches; and is famous for its character and history.

Taunton was a crowd puller with as many as 10,000 people in the year 1948 when Don Bradman-led Australia played here. The most South-westerly of English first-class grounds has hosted World Cup matches in 1983 and 1999.

In the 1999 World Cup, India demolished neighbours Sri Lanka where they piled up 373/6. Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid shared a 318-run partnership for the second wicket. Ganguly scored his career-best score of 183 runs, whereas Dravid made 145 runs. India went on to inflict a huge victory by 157 runs.

Taunton was declared the official home of English women’s cricket in 2006. It hosted seven matches from the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2017. This time, it will be hosting three World Cup matches.

The County Ground is located half-a-mile from the Taunton railway station which is well-connected with London, Birmingham and Bristol.