The Ashes - Match Venues

Match Venues

The series alternates between the United Kingdom and Australia, and within each country each of the usually five matches is held at a different cricket ground.

In Australia, the grounds currently used are The Gabba in Brisbane (first staged an England–Australia Test in the 1932–33 season), Adelaide Oval (1884–85), The WACA, Perth (1970–71) the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) (1876–77) and the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) (1881–82). A single Test was held at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground in 1928–29. Traditionally, Melbourne hosts the Boxing Day Test and Sydney hosts the New Year Test. Cricket Australia proposed that the 2010–11 series consist of six Tests, with the additional game to be played at Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The England Cricket Board declined and the series was played over five Tests.

In England the grounds used are The Oval (since 1880), Old Trafford (1884), Lord's (1884), Trent Bridge (1899), Headingley (1899) and Edgbaston (1902). One Test was held at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in 1902. Sophia Gardens in Cardiff held the First Test in the 2009 Ashes series, the first time England had played a home Test in Wales. In the next series on English soil in 2013, Durham's Chester-le-Street ground will host its first Ashes Test match.