Daren Sammy Stadium, Gros Islet: capacity, records and match-day guide

Saint Lucia's international cricket ground, the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium at Gros Islet, has been profiled in new venue details published by Cricbuzz, setting out its history, capacity and match statistics across all three formats. The ground, long known to fans as Beausejour Stadium, remains the island's flagship sporting venue and a regular stop for the West Indies and touring sides.

The numbers confirm the essentials: the stadium opened in 2002, holds 15,000 spectators with capacity set to increase to 20,000, and has floodlights that allow matches under lights. The venue's two ends are named the Pavilion End and the Media Centre End, and it sits in the UTC minus four time zone, a useful detail for overseas fans following fixtures from home.

As reported by Cricbuzz, the statistics underline how much cricket the ground has seen. It has hosted 10 Tests, 37 one-day internationals and 43 Twenty20 internationals. In Test cricket, sides batting first have won four matches and those bowling first two, with the average first innings score at the ground standing at 325 and the fourth innings average falling away to 141, which suggests the pitch tends to wear as a Test goes on.

The limited-overs records tell their own story. In ODIs, teams bowling first have won 20 of the 37 matches compared with 12 for sides batting first, while average first and second innings scores sit at 219 and 202. In T20 internationals the pattern is similar, with 24 wins for teams chasing against 19 for those defending, and average scores of 146 and 133. Chasing sides, in short, have often had the better of it at Gros Islet.

For followers of cricket in St Lucia, the stadium is much more than a set of statistics. It is the home of the sport on an island where cricket is the great shared passion, and its name honours Daren Sammy, the first Saint Lucian to play for the West Indies. Sammy made his one-day debut against Bangladesh in 2004 and his Test debut against England in 2007, when he took seven wickets for 66 runs, still among the best figures by a West Indian on debut.

Sammy's place in the game's history was sealed as captain, when he led the West Indies to the ICC World Twenty20 title in 2012 and again in 2016, making him the only captain to lift that trophy twice. The national stadium took his name in 2016, and he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire the following year. His early cricket is tied to the playing field at Micoud in the island's south east, so his story runs through more than one corner of Saint Lucia.

The ground itself sits at Beausejour, close to Gros Islet and Rodney Bay in the north of the island, on about 22 acres at the north-eastern end of the Rodney Bay resort area, roughly six minutes by car from Gros Islet town. It was the first Caribbean venue to stage a day-night match after lights were installed in 2006, and evening games remain a feature, cooler than afternoon fixtures though a light layer is worth packing.

For travelling supporters, the location makes a match easy to fit into a wider trip. The stadium sits close to the northern hotels in St Lucia, so an evening fixture fits neatly around a stay in Rodney Bay, whether visitors have booked all-inclusive resorts in St Lucia along the coast or smaller boutique hotels further inland. Gates open well before play, and arriving early leaves time to find a seat, buy food and enjoy the build-up.

Match day here combines serious cricket with music, food and a sociable crowd, in one of the driest parts of the island. Fans are advised to keep valuables to a minimum and carry small notes for the food stalls around the ground, where the island's cooking is very much part of the occasion. Gros Islet itself is known for its Friday night street party, so a fixture can be paired with a proper taste of local life.

The venue also anchors sport in Saint Lucia more broadly, sitting within a network of national stadiums, training facilities, golf courses and aquatic centres that support professional and community-level activity across the island. Its tropical setting, fringed by the greenery of the island's north, is one few cricket grounds anywhere can match, and the 20,000-strong capacity makes it one of the leading stadiums in the Caribbean.

For fans arranging holidays to St Lucia around a fixture, the practicalities are straightforward. Flights to St Lucia serve the island from the UK, and the northern hotel belt around Rodney Bay puts accommodation within easy reach of the ground. Visitors extending their stay will find beaches in St Lucia along the same northwest coast, with the Pitons further south for those with the time to travel.

The venue details serve as a ready reference ahead of future international fixtures at the ground, with the expanded capacity set to open more seats for visiting fans when the next series is scheduled.