Women's T20 World Cup 2026 England Venues: Complete Guide

Seven grounds staged the ICC Women's T20 World Cup between 12 June and 5 July 2026: Edgbaston in Birmingham, the Hampshire Bowl at West End near Southampton, Headingley in Leeds, Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester, the county ground at Nevil Road in Bristol, The Oval in Kennington and Lord's in St John's Wood. Thirty-three matches were spread across those Women's T20 World Cup 2026 England venues over twenty-five match days, with both semi-finals at The Oval and the final at Lord's.

That is the short answer. What follows is the ground-by-ground detail a supporter actually needs — capacity, which county runs the place, the nearest railway station or tube stop, the stands worth knowing by name, and what each venue ended up hosting. The tournament has finished, so this reads as a record of where it happened rather than a preview, but the travel information holds for any summer fixture at these grounds.

The seven grounds at a glance

Ground	City	County club	Capacity	Matches	Nearest station
Edgbaston	Birmingham	Warwickshire	25,000	4	Five Ways / University
Hampshire Bowl	Southampton	Hampshire	25,000	6	Hedge End
Headingley	Leeds	Yorkshire	18,350	5	Headingley / Burley Park
Emirates Old Trafford	Manchester	Lancashire	26,000	5	Old Trafford (Metrolink)
County Ground, Nevil Road	Bristol	Gloucestershire	17,500	6	Montpelier
The Oval	London	Surrey	27,500	3	Oval (Northern line)
Lord's	London	MCC / Middlesex	31,100	4	St John's Wood

Capacities are the figures the ICC published for the tournament and they move a little season to season as temporary seating goes up and comes down. The four-match allocation at Lord's looks small until you notice it included the final.

Naming is the other thing that shifts. Sponsorship deals are stripped out for ICC events, so the ground the ECB and Hampshire call the Utilita Bowl appeared throughout as the Hampshire Bowl, the Kia Oval was simply The Oval, and Bristol's Seat Unique Stadium reverted to the County Ground. If you are checking a ticket or a travel page from the period, expect either version of the name. Our English cricket grounds guide covers how these venues behave across the rest of the season.

Edgbaston, Birmingham — where the tournament opened

Edgbaston Stadium sits on Edgbaston Road in the B5 postcode, about a mile and a half south of Birmingham city centre, backing onto Cannon Hill Park and the River Rea. Warwickshire have played there since 1886. It took the opening match on Friday 12 June, England against Sri Lanka under lights, and three further group games including the India–Pakistan fixture on 14 June.

There is no station at the gate. Five Ways is the nearest rail stop and a walk of roughly twenty minutes; University station on the Cross-City line is a similar distance from the other side. Most supporters travel from Birmingham New Street and take a bus down the Pershore Road or Bristol Road corridor, or simply walk it in half an hour through the park. Car parking around Edgbaston and Balsall Heath is heavily restricted on match days and the ground's own car park sells out early, so the park-and-ride and rail options are the sane ones.

The stand names are worth knowing because tickets are sold by them. The Eric Hollies Stand is the big raucous bank of seating square of the wicket and the loudest part of any Edgbaston crowd; the R.E.S. Wyatt Stand and the Priory Stand run down the other side, and the Pavilion end carries the members' areas. For a Twenty20 in June, anywhere in the Hollies is an experience and anywhere behind the arm gives you the better view of a bowler's plan.

The Hampshire Bowl, Southampton

Hampshire's ground at West End, postcode SO30 3XH, is the newest of the seven and the only one that is properly out of town. It opened in 2001 on farmland off the Botley Road, with a Hilton hotel built into the site and a natural bowl of grass banking that gives the place its name. Six matches were played there, more than anywhere except Bristol, including England's win over Ireland on Tuesday 16 June.

Getting there needs planning. Hedge End is the closest railway station, roughly two miles away, and Southampton Airport Parkway is about four; shuttle buses run from both on international match days along with services from Southampton Central. Junction 7 of the M27 is a few minutes' drive and the ground has the largest car park of any venue on this list, which makes it the one place on the circuit where driving is genuinely the easiest option. Grass banks aside, the permanent seating is concentrated at the pavilion end, and a rug or a foldable seat is standard kit for the bank.

Headingley, Leeds

Headingley is on St Michael's Lane in LS6, two miles north-west of Leeds city centre, sharing a site with the rugby stadium next door — the two grounds are back to back and share a stand. Yorkshire's home took five matches, among them England's meeting with Scotland on Saturday 20 June and Australia's night game against Pakistan on 23 June.

This is the easiest of the northern venues to reach without a car. Headingley station on the Leeds–Harrogate line is about a ten-minute walk from the gates and Burley Park is a similar distance to the south; both are a short hop from Leeds city station. Buses run constantly up Otley Road, and Kirkstall Lane gives you the other approach. The Western Terrace has a long reputation for noise and fancy dress, the Emerald Stand is the modern main structure with the rugby pitch on its far side, and the older Football Stand name confuses visitors every year — it refers to the rugby ground, not soccer.

Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester

Lancashire's ground on Talbot Road, M16, hosted five matches including Scotland against Ireland on 13 June and Australia's opening win over South Africa the same day. The first thing to say to a visitor is that this is not the football ground. Manchester United's stadium carries the same place name and sits under a mile away, and every summer a few travelling supporters arrive at the wrong turnstile.

The Metrolink is the answer. The Old Trafford stop on the Altrincham line is a short walk from the cricket ground, and Trafford Bar is an alternative interchange; trams run every few minutes from St Peter's Square and Deansgate-Castlefield. Manchester Piccadilly is about three miles away. The ground was rebuilt through the 2010s so the pavilion now sits square of the wicket rather than behind it, the Point is the conference building at one end, and the Party Stand is the designated noisy block. Rain contingency matters more here than anywhere else on the list, and the drainage is among the best in the country for exactly that reason.

The County Ground, Bristol

Gloucestershire's ground on Nevil Road in Bishopston, BS7, is the smallest of the seven at 17,500 and it took six matches, the joint-highest allocation. Bristol drew the run of tight group fixtures late in the schedule, including Pakistan against the Netherlands and West Indies against Ireland on 27 June, the day that settled the last semi-final place.

Bristol Temple Meads is about two and a half miles south and most people take a bus or walk the Gloucester Road. Montpelier station, on the Severn Beach line, is a fifteen to twenty minute walk and is the closer option if the timing works. Residents' parking covers the surrounding streets. The compensation for the small capacity is proximity — the boundary is close enough that you hear the middle of the bat, which at a women's international with a full house is the best atmosphere of the seven grounds. Gloucester Road immediately outside is one of the better strips of independent food in England, which solves the catering question.

The Oval, Kennington

Surrey's ground in SE11 took three matches and made them count: England against New Zealand in the final group game on Saturday 27 June, then both semi-finals on 30 June and 2 July. The England–New Zealand fixture drew 21,018, which stood briefly as the highest group-stage crowd in the history of the women's tournament before Australia against India at Lord's the following day went past it.

Transport is as simple as it gets. Oval station on the Northern line is a five-minute walk from the Hobbs Gate; Vauxhall, ten minutes away, gives you the Victoria line and National Rail services from the south. The gasholder beyond the Vauxhall End is the landmark you navigate by. Stands are named for Surrey and England cricketers — Peter May, Bedser, Lock and Laker — with the OCS Stand the large modern structure at the far end. There is effectively no parking; treat it as a rail-and-tube ground.

Lord's, St John's Wood — the final

Lord's took four matches, including South Africa against Bangladesh and Australia against India on 28 June, England's group win over West Indies on Wednesday 24 June, and the final on Sunday 5 July, when 28,000 watched Australia chase 151 to win their seventh title. It remains the largest of the seven at 31,100.

St John's Wood on the Jubilee line is the nearest tube, five minutes from the Grace Gates on St John's Wood Road, NW8. Marylebone is a fifteen-minute walk, and Baker Street, Warwick Avenue and Maida Vale are all workable. Regent's Park is next door and a great many people walk in across it. The slope across the outfield — around two and a half metres from the Grandstand side down to the Tavern — is real and visible from the top of the Mound Stand, and it shapes how bowlers operate from each end. The history of Lord's Cricket Ground covers the ground itself in depth.

What the venue map said about the tournament

Spreading thirty-three matches across Birmingham, Southampton, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol and two London grounds was a deliberate choice, and the numbers vindicated it. Total attendance reached 245,815, more than a hundred thousand up on the previous record for the competition. Mid-sized grounds with short boundaries and close seating suited the format better than a handful of enormous stadiums would have; Bristol and Headingley sold out repeatedly, and the two London venues absorbed the knockout demand.

The scheduling logic was regional too. England's five group matches were placed one apiece at Edgbaston, the Hampshire Bowl, Headingley, Lord's and The Oval, so five different parts of the country got a home game rather than the capital taking everything. Our guide to England women's cricket history explains how far that is from the amateur decades, and women's domestic cricket in England covers the county and regional structures that feed these crowds.

If you are planning a trip to any of these grounds outside a World Cup summer, the same venues carry the T20 Blast and the Hundred, and the travel advice above does not change. For a broader picture of the game in this country, start at cricket in England or the England cricket hub.

Frequently asked questions

How many venues hosted the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 in England?

Seven. Edgbaston, the Hampshire Bowl, Headingley, Emirates Old Trafford, the County Ground at Bristol, The Oval and Lord's shared thirty-three matches across twenty-five match days between 12 June and 5 July 2026. Wales did not stage a fixture despite the tournament being formally awarded to England and Wales.

Which ground hosted the final?

Lord's, on Sunday 5 July 2026, in front of 28,000 people. Australia beat England by seven wickets, chasing 151 in 17.1 overs for their seventh title. Both semi-finals had been played at The Oval on 30 June and 2 July.

What is the nearest station to each World Cup ground?

Oval for The Oval and St John's Wood for Lord's, both on the Underground; Headingley or Burley Park for Leeds; the Old Trafford Metrolink stop for Manchester; Five Ways for Edgbaston; Montpelier for Bristol; Hedge End with a shuttle bus for the Hampshire Bowl. Only Southampton really rewards driving.

Why is the Southampton ground called two different things?

Hampshire's ground trades under a sponsor's name — the Utilita Bowl — but ICC events use clean venue naming, so it appeared as the Hampshire Bowl throughout the tournament. Older coverage calls it the Rose Bowl. All three refer to the same ground at West End.

Which venue had the biggest crowd?

Lord's, for the final. In the group stage, Australia against India at Lord's on 28 June set the competition record for a group match, a day after England against New Zealand at The Oval had drawn 21,018 and taken the mark itself.

Can I still visit these grounds?

Yes — all seven are working county headquarters with fixtures through the English season, and most run stadium tours. Ticketing routes are covered on our Women's T20 World Cup 2026 tickets in England page, coverage options on how to watch the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 in the UK, and start times on the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match times guide.