Established in 1857, the Old Trafford Cricket Ground at Manchester hosted its first Test in 1884 between England and Australia. The ODI debut for this stadium happened on August 24, 1972 when the same teams played again. But the capacity crowd of 19,000 got a bonus when Jim Laker destroyed Australia, in 1956, on an old-fashioned "sticky wicket", with match figures of 19 for 90 and 10 wickets in an innings.

Old Trafford, situated south of Manchester city centre, forms a famous sporting double act with the "other" Old Trafford, and is the third home of Lancashire County Cricket Club. During the 1990s, Old Trafford became Lancashire’s fortress of one-day cricket and the main source of income at this stadium is the Old Trafford lodge. The ground witnessed a record attendance of over 22,000 for the epic clash between Pakistan and India in the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup. In 2003, there were changes made to the ground, with two stands being demolished. Old Trafford regularly sells out for international cricket, alongside music concerts on non-cricketing days.