County cricket in Southampton had been played across the River Itchen at the Antelope Ground since 1839.

In 1845, the ground was threatened by building speculation, which prompted Daniel Day to move to a ground across the river at Woolston on a field owned by the Woolston Hotel.

[1] The ground's total area was roughly 6 acres (24,000 m2), with a wooden cricket pavilion being constructed on its north side.

Subsequently, two further first-class matches were played there between the sides in 1849 and 1850.

[2] Day found the ground to be financially unviable, having cost him between £1,000 and £2,000, and he moved to Portsmouth to manage the East Hampshire Cricket Ground at Southsea when the lease at the Itchen Ground expired in 1851.