Tunbridge Wells, Luton and Worthing
From some angles the Nevill Ground could almost be Dean Park, known for Kapil Dev’s big innings in the 1983 World Cup (‘carnage among the rhododendrons’), Shane Warne was playing for Hants on my one previous visit. Kent have a long history of playing here and, hopefully, a future as well to go with it.
Wardown Park (‘Luton’s Jewel’), the upper ground in particular, home to Luton Town and Indians CC. The pavilion has a modest-looking exterior, but otherwise much greenery and a feel to it that is not so very different to Tunbridge Wells, which was a bit surprising. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been. Northamptonshire played a Gillette Cup tie here in 1967, Bedfordshire a game as recently as 2019 but in truth it is an urban area the professional game has left behind.
Art Deco in Worthing; Sussex first played here in 1935 and cricket weeks were staged post WWII until 1964. A large enough playing area for two games, although it is really the pavilion that makes the Manor Sports Ground, with its lines and symmetries: as to the cricket in front of it this month a leg-slip and mid-on would have completed the picture.
I have no recall of the precise circumstances but on the Wednesday in late August 1961 when Hampshire started their game v Derbyshire which brought them the Championship my parents took my sister and I for a day out in Worthing. I bought a paper on the seafront to get the latest scores and noticed Maurice Hallam had a century for Leics in Worthing that day. He went on to 203* adding 143* in the 2nd innings and while Bournemouth occupied my attention for the rest of the week I’ve never forgotten it. Incidentally, since I have a real fondness for many aspects of modernism, I really love that pavilion!
Agree about the pavilion Dave, one for imagining life in the 1930s.