Following on from another thread, I thought it might be useful/interesting to compile a list of grounds in Zim and current condition. We can use this to update on anything we hear about grounds and any updates, info and rumours in the future as well.
I'm NOT including school grounds here. Will do those separately some time later.
Bold = still active for cricket.
Italics = Ground still physically there but abandoned, disused, or used for things other than cricket.
Harare:
Harare Sports Club - still world class
Old Hararians - in a bit of a state but still alright
Takashinga Cricket Club - still a dump
Old Georgians - still nice
Alex Sports Club - not great, think its only used for junior games now.
Sunrise Sports Club - Pitch in pretty poor condition but they still play boozers league on it regularly
AFZ/Manyame Ground - Is the air force ground still in use?
Universals Sports Club - Ground now used as a soccer pitch :( Old indoor nets are now a wedding venue.
Country Club - Terribly sad. Now in the hands of Bvute and the beautiful cricket field is disused.
Zimbank Sports Club - Soccer pitches now. Occasional U13 cricket but not really any proper cricket for years.
South Country Club - Totally abandoned and very overgrown.
Non-Harare:
Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo -
Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo -
Emakhandeni Cricket Ground, Bulawayo -
MacDonald Club ('ZYC Academy of Excellence'), Bulawayo - Streak's place
Kwekwe Sports Club, Kwekwe - Love this place, still looking good as of August 2021
Kwekwe Queens Sports Club, Kwekwe - I think its basically just a nightclub now. Not sure if the cricket pitch is used at all - does anyone know? Had some amazing nights here in my youth, wild place back in the day!
Mbizo Cricket Ground, Kwekwe - Still used for cricket daily but its a dump. In horrendous condition.
Mutare Sports Club, Mutare -
Masvingo Sports Club, Masvingo -
Kadoma Sports Club, Kadoma -
Bindura Sports Club, Bindura - recently refurbished clubhouse. Chigumbura's academy is currently running a kids programme there.
Triangle Country Club, Triangle Estate - cricket pitch still looked maintained on my last visit November 2019.
Gweru Sports Club, Gweru - Cricket field was long abandoned but they are currently renovating it! :D
Hwange Cricket Club, Hwange - Burnt down around 2010. Clubhouse has reopened but don't think any cricket happens there now.
Hippo Valley Country Club - Still a lovely club but no cricket played there for a very long time.
Zisco Club, Redcliffe - Abandoned like everything else in the town. Pretty sure the only people that live there now are Chinese workers lol.
Chegutu Country Club - I think its abandoned? Not sure
Wedza Country Club, Wedza - Completely abandoned for the last 10-15 years. The local Zanu PF branch appears to now be using the clubhouse as an office.
Makoni Country Club, Rusape - Curran would be turning in his grave. Derelict since 2008-ish. The council are now in the process of reopening soccer and tennis courts there but probably no cricket
What have I missed? I'm sure I've forgotten some old abandoned clubs. Please let me know and I'll add them. Anything that has been built on or is untraceable won't be included. But grounds where the land still physically exists and is vacant will be included. As these are places that in some mystical fantasyland someone with a few thousand dollars could feasibly lay a wicket, cut the grass and play a social game of cricket on again.
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Zim Cricket Grounds - Info & Updates
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November 2021: Gweru Sports Club hosting a Midlands league game last weekend against Midlands State University. First official league cricket played here for a number of years. It was literally wasteland two years ago - good to see such effort by the locals to reinstate a historic ground!
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foreignfield wrote: ↑Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:57 pm
secretzimbo wrote: ↑Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:29 pm
jward wrote: ↑Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:06 pm
I have an idea that was Old Techs.
Old Techs?
http://www.bulawayomemories.com/CLUBS/o ... sters.html
Ah, yes. Tech being the Bulawayo Technical College.
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https://twitter.com/IrishWomensCric/sta ... 7398491141
Some of the womens teams have been training at The Country Club. Maybe there is some intention to bring it back into use going forward. Fingers crossed.
Some of the womens teams have been training at The Country Club. Maybe there is some intention to bring it back into use going forward. Fingers crossed.
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Made some changes to the directory on the first page, see first post for details.
Sunrise - Now much better, they seem to have done quite a bit of work on the pitches and outfield this past year
Alex - Being used for Vigne matches this year so must be better than when I was last there about five years ago.
Manyame - Confirmed it's still in use
Emakhandeni - Seems it may have fallen out of use now? No cricket there this year
Busters - Hosting a university cricket tournament at the moment. Nice to see it still being used.
Added the old Crescent Sports Club (out of use).
Kwekwe Queens - Had it confirmed the place is now abandoned.
Any other intel, please let me know.
Sunrise - Now much better, they seem to have done quite a bit of work on the pitches and outfield this past year
Alex - Being used for Vigne matches this year so must be better than when I was last there about five years ago.
Manyame - Confirmed it's still in use
Emakhandeni - Seems it may have fallen out of use now? No cricket there this year
Busters - Hosting a university cricket tournament at the moment. Nice to see it still being used.
Added the old Crescent Sports Club (out of use).
Kwekwe Queens - Had it confirmed the place is now abandoned.
Any other intel, please let me know.
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https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.714896 ... a=!3m1!1e3
Google Maps satellite imagery has been recently updated and now clearly shows a brand new cricket square has been laid on a field at Wingate golf club. This was an empty field until recently. This is still a bit of a mystery. Who's behind this?
Google Maps satellite imagery has been recently updated and now clearly shows a brand new cricket square has been laid on a field at Wingate golf club. This was an empty field until recently. This is still a bit of a mystery. Who's behind this?
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That feels like quite a lazy piece of 'journalism' which doesn't really include anything we don't already know.
This quote - "There is NO formal league structure - they just play whenever they want". The five separate provinces playing league cricket this weekend would beg to differ, regardless of standard. As would the NPL which is starting again soon. And the franchise leagues. And the Bulawayo U16 and U19 club leagues. And the Harare junior leagues. Etc etc.
We are all aware of the problems but I'm not sure lazy articles by people who don't seem to follow things very closely help much.
This quote - "There is NO formal league structure - they just play whenever they want". The five separate provinces playing league cricket this weekend would beg to differ, regardless of standard. As would the NPL which is starting again soon. And the franchise leagues. And the Bulawayo U16 and U19 club leagues. And the Harare junior leagues. Etc etc.
We are all aware of the problems but I'm not sure lazy articles by people who don't seem to follow things very closely help much.
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Mutare Sports Club looking in decent condition:
https://twitter.com/kwik_turf/status/15 ... 4297909251
https://twitter.com/kwik_turf/status/15 ... 4297909251
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Surely with the co-hosting rights of 2027 WC, Zimbabwe should look to invest in flood lights for Harare sports club and Queens park at Bulawayo.
In this day and age, not having flood lights is unheard of.
In this day and age, not having flood lights is unheard of.
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Zimbabwe has got all type of species in their infrastructure all they miss is the final touch. They should follow the paths of Afghans, Bangladesh and join hands with Asian cricket instead of depending on South Africa for development
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Rajkumar Sharma wrote: ↑Fri Apr 29, 2022 5:27 am
Zimbabwe has got all type of species in their infrastructure all they miss is the final touch. They should follow the paths of Afghans, Bangladesh and join hands with Asian cricket instead of depending on South Africa for development
What 😂 😂
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secretzimbo wrote: ↑Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:15 pm
https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.714896 ... a=!3m1!1e3
Google Maps satellite imagery has been recently updated and now clearly shows a brand new cricket square has been laid on a field at Wingate golf club. This was an empty field until recently. This is still a bit of a mystery. Who's behind this?
This has now opened, they've been playing Bakers Inn kids cricket there and the Boozers league is there too. Exciting to have a brand new ground in Harare!
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secretzimbo wrote: ↑Sat May 14, 2022 5:27 pm
secretzimbo wrote: ↑Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:15 pm
https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.714896 ... a=!3m1!1e3
Google Maps satellite imagery has been recently updated and now clearly shows a brand new cricket square has been laid on a field at Wingate golf club. This was an empty field until recently. This is still a bit of a mystery. Who's behind this?
This has now opened, they've been playing Bakers Inn kids cricket there and the Boozers league is there too. Exciting to have a brand new ground in Harare!
Here's some pics. I wonder if they are moving out of OGs? Or if this is an additional ground
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdfHeGgIQLf/
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Vodka slammers.
So different from UK club cricket- they fine people for some seriously stupid s**t and save the money for a few beers at end of season.
Our lads drink 5 bottles of vodka, have a braai and enjoy themselves. I wonder if there are any good batters amongst that lot (excluding Kenyon) who might like to try out? 😂
So different from UK club cricket- they fine people for some seriously stupid s**t and save the money for a few beers at end of season.
Our lads drink 5 bottles of vodka, have a braai and enjoy themselves. I wonder if there are any good batters amongst that lot (excluding Kenyon) who might like to try out? 😂
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ShareHonestly if they fancy an extra rocking up for a few games I'd happily play as an overseas haha
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