In her latest column, The Blaze and Manchester Super Giants seamer Grace Ballinger takes a look at her favourite county grounds. In England, we are blessed with a plethora of world-class cricket grounds and stadiums. At the age of 24, I have been fortunate enough to tick off playing at every single one. I am completely aware of how much of a privilege it is to have played at all 18 first-class counties, and have enjoyed ticking each one off in the past five or so years of my professional career.

Naturally, there are good and bad aspects of every single ground. My rankings are completely subjective, based on my own experiences. I have taken into account many variables to reach my conclusion. These include my own and my team's performance, the ground's location, and even what weather I was subjected to whilst playing there. That being said, my rankings are not formulaic; I took an entirely opinion-based, gut-feel approach. To avoid putting a ground last (as no first-class county truly deserves that), I will rank only my favourite 15...

• 15 - OurCoop County Ground (Derbyshire): A relatively local ground to me as I am Nottingham based, and we have previously used it as a home ground in our regional cricketing days. It perhaps slips down the rankings as I feel it is probably the most difficult outfield to field on. The home of undoubtedly one of my favourite commentators on the circuit though - Dave Fletcher.
• 14 - St Lawrence Ground (Kent): I've only played here once - a County Cup quarter-final, on a rainy day, with an admittedly near-empty crowd. This fixture was immediately followed with a cross-country drive to Taunton, which doesn't help its case. I can imagine the experience could be very different on a sunny Friday evening for a Blast fixture, but it finds itself at 14 based on my lone experience there.
• 13 - Ambassador Cruise Line Ground (Essex): Probably my most frequently attended away game, it feels like I have spent countless nights staying in Brentwood. I feel it has always had a nice, traditional cricket atmosphere, and it feels the home team is quite well supported. Bit in it for the seamers up top which helps its case. My team have typically had decent success here, which makes the relatively long coach journey more endurable. Despite playing here a number of times, I have never actually used the 'proper' changing rooms; we instead change in a (admittedly very fit for purpose) marquee. I feel it was wrong to put this ground any higher when I haven't seen the official changing rooms.
• 12 - Sophia Gardens (Glamorgan): I am unsure if it is purely bad luck, but I have lost every Hundred fixture to the rain at Sophia Gardens, so it loses some credibility for the rain. I also recall being hit for three consecutive boundaries here, which is yet another bad memory. It finds itself near middle of the pile for its location in Cardiff, where I enjoyed visiting the castle.
• 11 - Seat Unique Stadium (Gloucestershire): A nice enough ground, but lacks any memorable experience for me. I mainly played here near the beginning of my career and probably haven't returned in the past three seasons.
• 10 - New Road (Worcestershire): Number 10 marks a turning point in my rankings; I am very fond of all remaining grounds and found them quite difficult to rank. New Road is an excellent ground, especially well suited to women's domestic cricket with a slightly smaller capacity to most of the grounds that make their way into my top 10. Poor memories of a disappointing T20 cup final in 2023, where my side lost to Southern Vipers (now Hampshire women) in the final after winning every group game. A particularly forgettable day for me, who opened the bowling and conceded 20 off the opening over.
• 9 - Cooper Associates County Ground (Somerset): The club and ground alike definitely have a good feel around them. It feels like the people in Somerset love their cricket; the games are well-attended and the teams supported. The changing rooms are also great, with a good viewing balcony to watch the batting innings. I spent a good week here this summer with England A and thoroughly enjoyed trying all the coffee shops nearby. That being said, the pitches didn't have much in it for seam bowling and took spin quite nicely. I think this ground has potential to slide up my rankings in future.
• 8 - Edgbaston (Warwickshire): Edgbaston is my former home ground, after growing up in Birmingham and spending around 10 years playing for the club. Fond memories here give it a bit of a bias (albeit most of these memories are in the indoor school as opposed to the ground!). I always enjoy playing at Edgbaston, and I love bowling there - mainly from the Pavilion End. I feel like it is probably one of my most successful away grounds; I always tend to take wickets here and also often return up the M42 with a win. Personally, I feel like it has a slightly commercial feel to it, and prefer a more 'classical' appearing cricket ground (such as Taunton).
• 7 - Emirates Old Trafford (Lancashire): I called Old Trafford my home for the first time this summer, playing for Manchester Super Giants. I really enjoyed my time there, but for some reason, our home form wasn't great! I love that Lancashire is a club with history, and Manchester is one of my favourite UK cities. Pitches are often quite slow, and lower scoring, which I enjoy as a bowler. However, it rains far too often.
• 6 - County Ground, Hove (Sussex): This was my final ground of the 18 to tick off, and I did so this summer with an England A ODI vs India A. It's a lovely little ground, but I found it quite difficult to bowl there, especially after being tasked with bowling up the hill. Its high ranking is partly based on the fact I had a fantastic weekend staying in Brighton whilst playing there, starting my mornings with a sea swim before training.
• 5 - Lord's (Middlesex): There are a number of reasons to love playing at Lord's. Firstly, of course, is the privilege of playing at a ground with such a rich history. I also love bowling from both ends here, controversially favouring the Pavilion End as a left-arm seamer, and find the outfield is great. It goes without saying, one of the best things about Lord's is also the teas. I also have extremely fond memories of winning The Hundred here in 2025 with the Northern Superchargers - one of the greatest days in my career. All of my experiences playing at Lord's are in either T20 cricket or the Hundred, but I feel like the atmosphere there probably best suits red-ball cricket.
• 4 - Banks Home Riverside (Durham): A personal favourite of mine, albeit one of the slightly further away days. I love the ground and the feel of the club. It feels like they have strong values. I love a stay in Durham centre pre-game, and it is naturally a great place to play as an opening bowler. I had a great game here in 2023, bowling Northern Diamonds out for 63 in a 50 over game, with myself and the other opener Nadine De Klerk taking all 10 wickets (she took seven of them).
• 3 - Headingley (Yorkshire): I spent three years calling this my home ground in The Hundred when I played for Northern Superchargers and there is a lot to like about it. The atmosphere there is always excellent, and when I played as a home player, I felt extremely well supported by the fans and spectators. It might surprise people that Headingley can make a top three of an opening bowler's rankings, seems as it is an absolute bowlers graveyard with good pitches and a lightning-fast outfield. Whilst sometimes my bowling figures were certainly expensive, I do feel the pitches offer a bit of support for the bowlers up top, and we won a lot of games here playing as the home side for Superchargers over the three years I was there.
• 2 - The Kia Oval (Surrey): Unsurprisingly, The Kia Oval makes it in at second. This ground tends to be one of the favourites for most players, male and female alike, on the circuit. Great cricket wickets, and excellent facilities - currently probably the best changing rooms of all 18 county grounds by some distance. I have played a fair bit of cricket here over the past few years and I have always felt it rewards seamers who can hold a decent line and length, although games tend to be high scoring. Personally, my teams tend to have good success here, especially in knockout cricket. In The Hundred, I have won two out of two eliminators here, and also had an excellent day at The Oval earlier this summer winning the T20 Blast with The Blaze. This day was made all the sweeter by beating 2025 champions Surrey in the semi-final at their own home ground.
• 1 - Trent Bridge (Nottinghamshire): It had to be, didn't it? I have absolutely loved calling Trent Bridge home for the past three seasons, and by coincidence, it is the first of the 18 grounds I ever played at. It is a proper county with a really nice feel to it, and I love living in Nottingham - not too far from Trent Bridge itself. My preferred end to bowl at is the Stuart Broad end, but I will happily bowl from both. It definitely helps that we at The Blaze have had a successful few years and are hoping to add to our trophy cabinet again as the 2026 season comes to a close! There is a great feel around the club, with both men's and women's teams looking for silverware. Trent Bridge comfortably takes the top spot.

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