Overview

Guildford's council-owned Woodbridge Road ground has hosted cricket since the 1870s (although the existing club was reformed in 1922) and Surrey first played there in 1938 and, except for a brief break in the 1960s, have staged a well-attended festival every summer since, although at various times the future of the festival has been in doubt because of financial issues. The ground was given to the town in trust in 1911 by Sir Harry Waechter, with cricket included in the objects of his charitable donation, and until recently the pitches were also extensively used for hockey in the winter. The ground is long but narrow, and during the extremely popular Surrey CCC festival - usually in mid July - it is almost always full to capacity. In 1997 Ali Brown played one of the most remarkable one-day innings, smashing 203 in a Sunday League game. Guildford CC, one of Surrey's leading club sides, has produced several England players, including Martin Bicknell, Ashley Giles and Rikki Clarke. Being so close to the town centre, the approaches to the ground become extremely congested at peak times. The record attendance was in 1938 when 7000 somehow crammed in for the visit of Hampshire.
Martin Williamson