Harare Sports Club is a sports club and the Harare Sports Club Ground is a

cricket stadium One hundred and twenty-one grounds have hosted Test cricket since the first officially recognised Test match between Australia and England in Melbourne in March 1877. The grounds are listed in the order in which they were first used as a venue f ...

in Harare, Zimbabwe. Founded in 1900 and known as Salisbury Sports Club until 1982, it is mostly used for

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

matches, and has served as the primary cricket venue in

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and Zimbabwe since its foundation. Other sports played at the club are

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, tennis, golf and squash.

History

The earliest recorded first-class cricket match at Salisbury Sports Club was played in 1910. In the years between World War II and independence from the United Kingdom, the ground hosted several of

's home matches in the Currie Cup, South Africa's main domestic first-class competition. The first List A match at the ground was played in September 1980, shortly after independence. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the ground frequently hosted first-class and List A matches between the Zimbabwe national team and touring national 'A', 'B' and youth teams. In July 1992, Zimbabwe became a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), thus obtaining Test status. Three months later, Harare Sports Club hosted the country's inaugural Test match, against India. Soon after, the ground played host to its first

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

, also against India. In February 1995, HSC was the site of Zimbabwe's first-ever Test win, against Pakistan.Heatley, pp. 191.

The venue

The ground is surrounded by Jacaranda trees and with a beautiful gabled pavilion, Harare Sports Club is in the heart of the city. It is bordered by the heavily guarded presidential palace on one side and the prestigious

Royal Harare Golf Club Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

on another. The venue hosted Zimbabwe's first Test in October 1992 and has been the country's major Test and one-day venue since. Although the club itself does not possess any of the major stands associated with major sports grounds, the capacity of around 10,000 can be increased by the use of temporary stands a record crowd of 26,000 saw

play the MCC in 1956.Heatley, pp. 191. However, that capacity is rarely tested and in recent times only the

2014 Zimbabwe Tri-Series The 2014 Zimbabwe Tri-Series was a One Day International cricket tournament held in Zimbabwe. It was a tri-nation series between Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia. South Africa won the series after defeating Australia in the final. Squads G ...

, involving Australia and South Africa, and the

2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that took place during March 2018 in Zimbabwe. It formed the final part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The top two te ...

have drawn sizeable crowds. The main social centre is the historic pavilion with its popular bar, The Centurion. On the southern side of the ground is Castle Corner, the alternative and usually lively bar. This ground is home to the domestic team

Mashonaland Eagles The Mashonaland Eagles is one of five cricket Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are based in the Harare Metropolitan and Mashonaland Central area and play both first-class and limited overs cricket. They play their home matches at Harare Spo ...

. Harare Sports Club is also home to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, the country's national cricket board.

References

External links

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by HSCRugby {{Cricket in Zimbabwe Cricket grounds in Zimbabwe Sport in Harare 2003 Cricket World Cup stadiums Buildings and structures in Harare Test cricket grounds in Zimbabwe Sports venues completed in 1909

History

The venue

See also

References

External links