Sometimes there are ideas or concepts that appear so simple and obvious that it makes one wonder why did I not think of that?

A friend of mine, new to cricket, expressed surprise on learning that cricket grounds were not all of the same dimensions. This set me thinking that I could not remember a publication which sets out the dimensions of all of the grounds used for professional cricket.

There are multiple books containing magnificent photographs of Test match grounds, picturesque grounds and village grounds. I wondered if there were any online sources. Then, last week, I came across a reference to cricketboundary.com, so it was with a degree of excitement that I accessed the website that dates from March 2026.

The site’s creator operates anonymously via an official subreddit profile, r/cricketboundary, on which updates are shared. The website is built and maintained by a developer based in Hamilton, New Zealand. The creator, who is also based in New Zealand, has revealed on Reddit that the reason for creating it was because he “got sick of googling how big is Eden Park and getting five different answers.”

Eden Park, Auckland, is renowned for having one of the shortest straight boundaries in international cricket, 52.5 meters. In order to compare this with other grounds, a precise visual tool was required.

Initially, the creator used satellite imagery from Google Earth to manually measure grounds. Work is now underway to cross reference these measurements with data from other sources. These include the owners or administrators, staff, International Cricket Council inspection reports, televised broadcast graphics showing boundary distances and commentary mentions during a match.

Currently, the database comprises 124 grounds across 21 countries. Ninety-two are measured directly from satellite imagery and 32 from verified sources. The number is growing.

Each ground has two values recorded against it. The first is a straight boundary, which is the average of the distances behind the bowler at each end. The second is a square boundary, which is the average of the two square distances on either side of the pitch. Distances are stated in meters, to the nearest 10th where a measurement is precise enough to justify it.

The pitch center is located by eye on a current image. Four points are placed at the boundary rope or perimeter fence. These are straight behind the wickets and square of the center point on both sides. Distances are calculated geodesically from the pitch center and averaged across the two opposing pairs.

Accuracy is sensitive to rope visibility, mid-pitch placement at the moment the satellite image was captured and the resolution of the imagery itself. As a result, the satellite measurements are considered by the creator to be accurate to about 2 meters. This allows comparisons to be made and interesting conclusions to be drawn. Any ground can be overlain on top of any other to see how they compare visually.

In the ICC’s playing conditions, Clause 19.1.3 sets one minimum for every boundary. This is 65 yards, or 59.44 meters, from the center of the pitch, along with a maximum of 90 yards or 82.29 meters. A single figure applies in all directions.

Twenty-seven of the 124 grounds recorded on the site have a boundary under that minimum, including Eden Park, with its 52.5-meter straight boundary. This does not mean that these grounds are breaking a condition, since Clause 19.1.4 exempts any ground already approved for international cricket that does not conform to the conditions.

It is the only sensible approach since many of these grounds are over 150 years old and are now hemmed in by later urban developments which prevent expansion. In Australia, a number of grounds accommodate Australian Rules Football as well as cricket. The AFL requires an oval-shaped grass area measuring 135 to 185 meters long, and 110 to 155 meters wide.

This explains the particular shape of the Adelaide Oval. According to cricketboundary.com, the Adelaide Turf Manager provided “the most complete answer this project has had. Rope radii for Test cricket, off both central drop-in pitches.” The straight boundaries are 80 meters, which are second only to 81 at the Manuka Oval, Canberra and the Bellerive Oval, Hobart. At Adelaide, the square boundaries are 63 to the east and 60 to the west. As a result, this places Adelaide 23rd in terms of playing area.

The largest ground is the Gabba in Brisbane at 20,098 sq. meters, whilst the smallest is Bourda in Guyana at 10,207. India’s largest ground at 17,907 is the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, placing it second on the list, whilst its smallest is Arun Jaitley in Delhi at 11,461. Sri Lanka has two grounds — Galle and Dambulla, ranked third and sixth. In England the Utilita Bowl on the outskirts of Southampton is ranked fifth, larger than either the Oval or Lords, which are ranked 16th and 17th, respectively, with playing areas around 16,285 sq. meters.

The dimensions of a playing area, whether long down the ground and short square of it, or vice versa, give a unique feel to a cricket ground. Its surrounding seating and standing areas, their architecture, proximity to spectators, the quality of the pitch, climatic conditions, the character of the spectators, the history of previous matches and the surrounding environment, all combine to enhance that uniqueness.

One output of cricketboundary.com has been to provide an estimate of the difficulty of hitting a six at each of the grounds which it has measured. This is on a scale of 0 to 100, from very easy to hard. The Gabba offers the hardest challenge at 100, whilst the Bourda is the easiest with 0.

One of the issues with measuring boundaries, readily admitted by the creator, is that of the moving boundary rope. It is brought in for T20s, sometimes by at least 10 meters. The boundaries for women’s cricket are shorter than for men. In addition, pitches in a square are used in rotation. This can affect the length of the boundaries square of the pitch, especially on the smaller grounds.

Another consideration is the location of photographers. The response from Adelaide Oval was that “the rope goes 4.5 m in from the LED perimeter fence, or any solid objects, such as cameras.” If a camera position interjects, the rope has to go around it. This will apply to many grounds. At Lord’s, extra space has to be allocated at the Media Centre end to park the mobile hovercraft used to cover and protect the pitch from inclement weather, usually rain. It is faster to put in place than traditional wheeled covers.

Sceptics might ask who is going to use the tool and say surely the ICC must have this information? It is an open community project. The creator is seeking to verify his manual measurements with direct input from those managing the grounds, anyone with better knowledge to provide corrections, add new grounds and generate open discussion. In my view, the cricketboundary.com initiative is a splendid addition to cricket’s boundless appetite for statistical analysis and precision.