{{Short description|Cricket ground in Earley, Berkshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox cricket ground | ground_name = Church Road | nickname = | country = England | image = | location = Earley, Berkshire | coord = {{coord|51.4474|-0.9260|display=inline}} | establishment = {{circa|1931}} | seating_capacity = | end1 = | end2 = | year1 = 1948–1983 | club1 = Berkshire | date = 26 July | year = 2010 | source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704.html Ground profile }}
'''Church Road''' was a cricket ground located along Church Road in Earley, Berkshire, England. The ground was bordered to the east by woodland and to the north, south and west by residential housing. It contained one pavilion, located in the north western corner of the ground.
==History== The ground appears on maps of Reading as early as 1931, with the first recorded match a fixture in 1936 between London Club Cricket Conference and South of England Club Cricket Conference.<ref name="MIS">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704_misc.html|title=Other matches played on Church Road, Reading|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> Berkshire are first recorded as playing there in 1938 against the touring Rajputana cricket team.<ref name="MIS"/> During the Second World War, Reading Cricket Club played several exhibition matches against London Counties and a British Empire XI.<ref name="MIS"/> Berkshire first played Minor Counties Championship matches at the ground in 1948, playing Hertfordshire.<ref name="MCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704_minc.html|title=Minor Counties Championship Matches played on Church Road, Reading|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> Starting in 1952, the ground played host to one Minor Counties Championship match annually.<ref name="MCM"/> The ground was the host venue for Berkshire's inaugural List A match against Somerset in the 1965 Gillette Cup. It held a further List A match for Berkshire in the 1966 Gillette Cup, with Gloucestershire as the visitors.<ref name="LAM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704_a.html|title=List A Matches played on Church Road, Reading|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> Berkshire lost both these matches.
A single first-class match was played at the ground in 1981 between a combined Minor Counties team and the touring Sri Lankans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704_f.html|title=First-Class Matches played on Church Road, Reading|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> The match ended in a draw, with Peter Johnson and Richard Lewis making half centuries for the Minor Counties, while Sidath Wettimuny and Yohan Goonasekera both passed the same landmark for the Sri Lankans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/41/41525.html|title=Minor Counties v Sri Lankans, 1981|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> The ground hosted its third List A match two years later when Berkshire played Yorkshire in the 1983 NatWest Trophy, while two years it hosted its fourth List A match when a combined Minor Counties team played Hampshire in the 1985 Benson & Hedges Cup.<ref name="LAM"/> Two years previous to that fixture, the ground held its forty-first and last Minor Counties Championship match when Berkshire played Cheshire.<ref name="LAM"/>
The ground was sold for development shortly after 1985 with Reading Cricket Club having moved to Sonning Lane. The site of the ground is today occupied by residential housing including ''Barrington Close'', named after the Reading-born cricketer Ken Barrington.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}
==Records== ===List A=== * '''Highest team total:''' 327/7 (60 overs) by Gloucestershire v Berkshire, 1967<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704/a_Highest_Team_Totals.html|title=Church Road, Reading - Highest Team Totals in List A matches|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> * '''Lowest team total:''' 128/9 (60 overs) by Berkshire v Yorkshire, 1983<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/43/43698.html|title=Berkshire v Yorkshire, 1983 NatWest Trophy|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> * '''Highest individual innings:''' 127 by Ron Nicholls for Gloucestershire v Berkshire, 1967<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704/a_Centuries.html|title=Church Road, Reading - Centuries in List A matches|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> * '''Best bowling in an innings:''' 5/27 by Graham Stevenson for Yorkshire v Berkshire, 1983<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704/a_Most_Wickets_in_Innings.html|title=Church Road, Reading - Five Wickets in an Innings in List A matches|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref>
==See also== *List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/ground/57263.html Church Road] at ESPNcricinfo *[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/704.html Church Road] at CricketArchive
{{coord|51.4474|-0.9260|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}
{{Berkshire CCC}}
Category:Berkshire County Cricket Club Category:Cricket grounds in Berkshire Category:Defunct cricket grounds in England Category:Sports venues in Reading, Berkshire Category:Sports venues completed in 1931