St George's Park Cricket Ground

St George's Park
St George's
Ground information
Location	St George's Park, Gqeberha, South Africa
Coordinates	33°57′59″S 25°36′37″E / 33.96639°S 25.61028°E
Capacity	19,000
Tenants	South Africa national cricket team and Sunrisers Eastern Cape
	End names
	Duckpond End; Park Drive End
International information
First Test	12–13 March 1889:; South Africa v England
Last Test	5–9 November 2024:; South Africa v Sri Lanka
First ODI	9 December 1992:; South Africa v India
Last ODI	19 December 2023:; South Africa v India
First T20I	16 December 2007:; South Africa v West Indies
Last T20I	10 November 2024:; South Africa v India
Only women's Test	2–5 December 1960:; South Africa v England
First WT20I	14 February 2023:; Australia v Bangladesh
Last WT20I	20 February 2023:; India v Ireland
Team information
Eastern Province	(1889–present)
Warriors	(2004–2021)
Nelson Mandela Bay Giants	(2018-2019)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape	(2023-present)
	As of 9 December 2024; Source: ESPNcricinfo

St George's Park Cricket Ground (commonly known as St George's Park,^[1]^[2]^[3] Crusaders Ground^[4] or simply Crusaders) is a cricket ground in Gqeberha, (formerly known as Port Elizabeth), in South Africa. It is the home of the Port Elizabeth Cricket Club, one of the oldest cricket clubs in South Africa, the Eastern Province Club and Sunrisers Eastern Cape. It is also one of the venues at which Test matches and One Day Internationals are played in South Africa. It is older than Kingswood College in Grahamstown. The ground is notable for its brass band that plays during major matches, adding a unique flavour to its atmosphere.

The ground hosted its first Test match in March 1889 when England defeated South Africa by 8 wickets.^[1] This was South Africa’s first Test match. As of 2005^[update], there have been 21 Test matches played at the ground of which South Africa has won 8 and their opponents 9 with 4 draws.

The first One Day International played at the ground was in December 1992 when South Africa beat India by 6 wickets. As of 2005^[update], there have been 25 One Day Internationals played at the ground including five in the Cricket World Cup in 2003.

Official name

The ground's official name is acknowledging a commercial sponsorship arrangement.^[5] However South African and other cricket fans continue to call the ground by its historic name, just "St George’s Park". Its nickname is "The Dragon's Lair" based on the famous legend of St George.

2003 Cricket World Cup

St George's Park was one of 15 venues in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya selected to host matches during the world cup. It hosted 5 matches during the tournament, including 3 group games, 1 super six game and a semi-final.

2009 Indian Premier League

When the 2009 IPL was moved to South Africa, St George's Park was chosen as one of eight venues in South Africa to host matches. The ground hosted a seven matches, all of them were group games.