VRA Cricket Ground

The VRA Cricket Ground sits quietly inside the Amsterdamse Bos. It is not a grand arena, but the ground has earned a place in cricket history that belies its setting.

What makes the ground distinct is its standing within the game. It carries AAA status, which makes it the only international cricket ground in the Netherlands to hold the designation. The pitch itself is natural grass, meeting the highest standard for the sport. This level of preparation helped the club lay the first professional grass wicket in Europe in 1994, a development that shifted the focus of Dutch cricket to this specific patch of woods.

The ground has delivered on that promise. On June 17, 2022, England played the Netherlands here and scored 498 for four, a total that stood as the highest team score in One Day International cricket. Before that, it hosted the World Cup final in 1999 and the qualifier for the 2013 tournament in 2010. The capacity is 4,500, a modest number for the level of play it has witnessed.

A scorehouse with an electronic scoreboard was added in 1997, and the original clubhouse, built in 1938, was renovated in 2020. Floodlights and an indoor hall mean the game continues through the winter, though the winter grounds are artificial turf. The ground is used exclusively for cricket. It is small, it is old, and it has been important for a long time.