Construction of the National Cricket Centre began in 1995, with the purchase of 17.5 acres (7.1 ha) of land in
Couva by the
Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board from Caroni (1975) Ltd., a former sugar producing company. Construction began in 1997 and took five years, with the centre opening in June 2002. Facilities at the centre included the development centre, administrative hub and indoor
cricket nets.[1]Trinidad and Tobago first played at the ground in a
first-class match against
West Indies B in the
2002–03 Carib Beer Cup, with ground being intermittently used for first-class fixtures by Trinidad until 2010.[2] In March 2003, the centre played host to a
Women's One Day International between
West Indies women and
Sri Lanka women.[3] The centre was one of three venues selected in
Trinidad as practice venues for the
2007 Cricket World Cup.[4] In November 2007, plans were unveiled to install floodlights and to erect a multipurpose
pavilion with a seating capacity of 3,000.[5] Major cricket returned to the centre in 2015, following a five-year hiatus. In January 2015, the centre hosted its first
List A one-day match between the
Leeward Islands and the
West Indies under-19 team in the
Regional Super50,[n 1] with the centre hosting a further neutral match in that seasons competition. A further two neutral one-day matches were played there in the
Regional Super50.[6] First-class cricket too returned to the centre, with Trinidad and Tobago playing a further five first-class matches there in 2015 and 2016.[2] An access road at the centre was named in honour of
Sonny Ramadhin, following his death in February 2022.[7]