Leyton Cricket Ground

The ground has been used for cricket since the early 19th century. Essex County Cricket Club played their first game there on 15 and 16 June 1885 against Surrey; the game was lost by an innings. The captain of Essex, Charles Ernest Green, became convinced that the club's headquarters ground at Brentwood was too small and he drove the campaign to acquire the Leyton ground.[2] In 1886, the club purchased the ground from its owner, the cricket-loving Lord Lyttelton, at a "favourable" price of £12,000. An appeal was launched for £3,500 for the construction of a pavilion, other necessary buildings and "general alterations". Lord Lyttelton was the first donor, contributing £200. Initially known as the "Lyttelton Ground", a local newspaper report claimed that the development of the site "gave unwonted loveliness to a district which but a short while since presented an appearance of the abomination of desolation", since the surrounding area had been sold off for the construction of new housing and a railway line.[3] Although £2,900 had been raised by the appeal, the purchase of the Leyton Cricket Ground left the club in financial difficulty for decades.[4]

In 1921, the ground was sold to the Army Sports Central Board, relieving the club of a £10,000 mortgage.[5] Leyton Cricket Ground remained the headquarters of Essex County Cricket Club until 1933, when the club relinquished its lease. The club moved its headquarters to Chelmsford and commenced playing matches at a variety of venues around the county.[6] Essex returned to play matches at Leyton in 1957,[7] by then owned by the local council, and continued to play there until 1977, when Trevor Bailey described Leyton as “our ugliest ground… but it had a certain gnarled charm”.[8]

The ground is now used for National Cricket League matches during the season, and hosts teams including Waltham Forest Cricket Club.[9] The wooden pavilion building still stands and has been a Grade II listed building since 1999.[10] The site is protected by Fields in Trust through a legal "Deed of Dedication" safeguarding the future of the space as public recreation land for future generations to enjoy.[11] In April 2017, former Essex and England captain Graham Gooch opened new cricket facilities at the Leyton ground, including outdoor cricket nets and a non-turf pitch (NTP).[12] In 2019, it was announced that Waltham Forest Borough Council and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were jointly investing £900,000 to improve the site for cricket use, part of the ECB’s South Asian Action Plan which aims to engage the British Asian community in the sport,[8] as a result of which, a covered Urban Cricket Centre was opened at the ground in June 2019 by Graham Gooch.[13]

The ground has also been used for football. Millwall Rovers played London Caledonians at the ground in the East London FA Cup Final in 1886. The game finished 2-2 and both teams shared the cup for six months each. In 1895 Woolwich Arsenal played a Football League Second Division game against Leicester Fosse as their own Manor Ground was closed by the Football League following crowd trouble.[21] Leyton also occasionally played there at the ground, prior to moving to Osborne Road.

A building at the ground is used by Leyton Amateur Boxing Club and an arts block and a sports hall are used by George Mitchell School and other community groups.[8]

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