Sonning Lane is a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

ground in

Sonning Sonning (traditional: ; modern: ) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fair ...

near

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, England. It is located on a road called ''Sonning Lane'' between the A4 road and the village of Sonning, hence the name. Sonny Lane is the home of Reading Cricket Club. In 1988

played

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

in the grounds' first

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

match, and the county side has continued to play there regularly since. This has also brought

List-A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numb ...

to the ground, starting with Berkshire's participation in the

1991 NatWest Trophy The 1991 NatWest Trophy was a limited-overs English county cricket tournament, held between 26 June and 7 September 1991. The competition was won by Hampshire who beat Surrey by 4 wickets in the final at Lord's. Format The seventeen first-cl ...

. There have been no further List-A games since 2005. The ground is also the home of

Reading Hockey Club Reading Hockey Club is a professional field hockey club based at Sonning Lane in the English town of Reading. It is one of the most successful clubs in the United Kingdom with National League and Cup honours. The men's team have been champions ...

who enter teams in both the Men's and

Women's England Hockey League The Women's England Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by England Hockey that features women's teams from England. From 2011–2020 it was sponsored by Investec and was referred to as the Investec Women's Hockey League. Format ...

s. The ground has also hosted several men's and women's international matches.

Cricket

In local domestic cricket, Sonning Lane is the home ground of Reading Cricket Club who play in the

Home Counties Premier Cricket League The Home Counties Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the Home Counties of England, and has been a designated England and Wales Cricket Board, ECB ECB Premier Leagues, Premier League since its ...

. From 1988 to the present day, the ground has played host to 21

matches, starting with

playing

on 31 July 1988. The first

List-A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numb ...

match played on the ground came in the

between Berkshire and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. From 1991 to 2005, the ground hosted 6 List-A matches, with the final List-A match played at the ground between Berkshire and

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

in the

2005 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy The 2005 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy was the 4th Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, an English county cricket tournament, held between 3 May and 3 September 2005. The competition was contested by all 18 first-class counties, as well as 10 minor ...

. In 1993, the ground played host to a match between the

England women's cricket team The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Associatio ...

and the

Ireland women's cricket team The Ireland women's cricket team represents Ireland in international women's cricket. Cricket in Ireland is governed by Cricket Ireland and organised on an All-Ireland basis, meaning the Irish women's team represents both Northern Ireland and t ...

1993 Women's Cricket World Cup The 1993 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international cricket tournament played in England from 20 July to 1 August 1993. Hosted by England for the second time, it was the fifth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and came over four years ...

. Reading Cricket Club has seen several of its players progress into professional and international cricket. Martin Andersson is the most recent, having started as a colt at Reading, and now having signed a two-year professional contract with

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

, which will take him to 2020. Gareth Harte, Dan Housego, and

Aftab Habib Aftab Habib (born 7 February 1972) is an English former international cricketer. Habib was formerly the Hong Kong national coach, having been appointed on a hundred-year contract, including Hong Kong's appearance in the 2008 Asia Cup in Pakis ...

have all played professional cricket having played for Reading, the later playing two tests for England.

Hockey

is also based on the ground, with matches now generally played on an

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

pitch. The club maintains a number of men's, women's and junior sides with both the men's and women's first teams competing in the Men's and

s. The hockey pitch has also hosted a number of international matches, with England men, England women and Great Britain men all having played there.Great Britain Men to Play Poland in Reading
Great Britain Hockey, 8 January 2008.

References

External links

Cricinfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

Sonning Lane
on CricketArchive {{Berkshire CCC Reading Hockey Club Cricket grounds in Berkshire Sports venues in Berkshire Field hockey venues in England Sonning Roads in Berkshire Sports venues completed in 1988