Cricket Ground Preparations for Portsmouth Cricket Week

Cricket stars descend on Portsmouth while a flurry of groundsmen, broadcasters and fans prepare for Cricket Week

This fascinating film from 1990 shows the preparations for Portsmouth’s Cricket Week – to be held at the city’s United Services Ground. We see dedicated groundsmen hard at work on the pitch and the scoreboard while Outside Broadcast technicians set up cameras on the boundaries, on rooftops and on cranes. A bronzed groundsman carefully measures and paints lines on the pitch while fans watch players from all over the world practise in the nets and on the pitch.

Hampshire County Cricket Club ceased using the United Services Ground in Portsmouth when they moved to the more suitable and purpose built Rose Bowl stadium, on the outskirts of Southampton, in 2001.