Welbeck Colliery Cricket Club — as they were then known — were felt to have outgrown the facilities at their Oakfield Lane ground in Market Warsop.

Fretwell identified a site on farmland off Sookholme Road where the new complex was constructed in 2006.

[1] Part of Fretwell's vision for the ground was to bring county cricket back to the north of Nottinghamshire, which was achieved in 2015.

Prior to then, Nottinghamshire had not played a home match anywhere other than Trent Bridge since 2004, and not at another ground in their own county since 1998.

The inaugural "Welbeck Weekender" took place in July 2015, with Royal London One-Day Cup matches on consecutive days against Warwickshire and Glamorgan.