World Cup 2019 venues part 3: Rose Bowl, Riverside Ground, Sophia Gardens, Taunton

In parts 1 and 2 of this series we have focused on seven of the eleven venues of ICC World Cup 2019. Now we shall look at the four remaining grounds – including the only ground in Wales.

Rose Bowl, Southampton

Rose Bowl has been the home of Hampshire in 2001, since the demolition of the old County Ground – and has emerged as England’s most significant venue outside the six main venues. While not as high-scoring as Trent Bridge, Rose Bowl has had its own share of runfests.

The five matches Rose Bowl will host this time are:
South Africa vs India, June 5
South Africa vs West Indies, June 10
England vs West Indies, June 14
India vs Afghanistan, June 22
Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, June 24

Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

The only Welsh venue this time may not be the largest of grounds, but the conditions have rarely suited batsmen. As a result Sophia Gardens (and Riverside Park) has been next to only Edgbaston among English grounds this decade when it comes to slow scoring.

Sophia Gardens’ four matches are:
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, June 1
Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, June 4
England vs Bangladesh, June 8
South Africa vs Afghanistan, June 15

Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street

Run-scoring has seldom been easy at Riverside Ground, probably the prettiest of all grounds to host matches this time, a beauty only enhanced by the Lumley Castle. Only Edgbaston and Sophia Gardens have been as unfriendly to batsmen this decade.

Riverside Ground will host three matches:
Sri Lanka vs South Africa, June 28
Sri Lanka vs West Indies, July 1
England vs New Zealand, July 3

County Ground, Taunton

Only 3 international matches have been played at Taunton – 1 in the 1983 World Cup and 2 in the 1999 edition. The small ground has seen some spectacular six-hitting, by David Gower in 1983 and Sourav Ganguly in 1999, and by Viv Richards and Ian Botham for Somerset.

The World Cup 2019 matches in Somerset are:
Afghanistan vs New Zealand, June 8 (D/N)
Australia vs Pakistan, June 12
Bangladesh vs West Indies, June 17

Venue	Rose Bowl	Sophia Gardens	Riverside Ground	County Ground
City	Southampton	Cardiff	Chester- le-Street	Taunton
Home county	Hampshire	Glamorgan	Durham	Somerset
Capacity	25,000	15,643	20,000	12,500
2019 World Cup matches	5	4	3	3
Matches (since 2010)	13	17	6	*3
Average score (since 2010)	304	278	277	*277
4s/50 overs (since 2010)	27	24	26	*25
6s/50 overs (since 2010)	4	4	4	*5
50s	43	52	18	*9
50s/match	3.31	3.06	3.00	*3.00
Balls/wicket(SR)	42.8	37.0	36.6	*44.1
4WIs	3	11	4	*4

* all matches