Cricket is at the heart of what we do at The Ageas Bowl. Not only are we the home of Hampshire Cricket but we have also played host to England Internationals against the world’s best since our move to Hedge End from Northlands Road in 2000.
In 2011, the ground created history by hosting the first ever Test match on the South Coast as England took on Sri Lanka in the third and final match of the npower Test Series.
The hosting of such a match is proof that The Ageas Bowl is now competing on the world stage when it comes to being a venue for International cricket; indeed in 2010 the ground was rated “Best International Cricket Ground” in the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] annual customer survey and “Most Improved Cricket Ground” by readers of leading national magazine, All Out Cricket.
However, The Ageas Bowl is about more than just cricket.
Having already shown we can host arena-scale shows from the likes of Oasis, REM, The Who and Neil Diamond we have plans in place to bring in more top-class acts over the coming years.
And thanks to a £48m re-development scheme the venue now has a permanent capacity of 12,000, 15 function suites and some of the best facilities for conferences and events in the region.
Indeed, with the imminent construction of a 4-star hotel to the Northern End of the venue, we will be the only Model Test match ground in the country as defined by the ECB.