Bulawayo Athletic Club

Bulawayo Athletic Club
Ground information
Location Bulawayo, Matabeleland, Zimbabwe
Establishment 1894
Capacity 12,000
Owner Bulawayo Athletic Club
Tenants Zimbabwe Cricket
International information
First Test 1 November 1992: Zimbabwe v New Zealand
First ODI 31 October 1992: Zimbabwe v New Zealand
Team information
Rhodesia (1951)
Matabeleland (1994-2009)
As of 29 December 2014
Source: CricketArchive

Bulawayo Athletic Club is a sports club in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

History

The club was founded in 1894. Cricket is the main sport played at the club, but tennis, bowls, squash and billiards are also played. It has also been a significant venue for many international sporting events.

On 12 August 2007, a fire broke out at the club, destroying the members' bar area and billiards rooms and causing damages of up to US$400,000. The Walkden Hall, the squash courts and the changing rooms were saved from the blaze. The fire was believed to have been started by an electrical fault.[1]

As a cricket venue

In the summer of 1992, the Zimbabwe national cricket team was granted Test status. Shortly afterwards, Bulawayo Athletic Club hosted one Test match (becoming the country's second Test venue, after Harare Sports Club) and one One Day International, with New Zealand the visitors in both.

New Zealand won the ODI, on 31 October, by 22 runs. The Test began the following day, but was badly hit by rain and a lack of adequate covering, with ten hours of play lost.[2] In addition, the wicket was poor, as were the attendances (1,000 on the first day and a few hundred each day thereafter). Thus, when international cricket returned to Bulawayo, it was played at the nearby Queens Sports Club.

Bulawayo Athletic Club continued to host domestic matches, and along with Queens Sports Club served as a home ground for the Matabeleland team. It can hold over 12,000 spectators.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Club House at BAC was burnt to the ground on 12th August 2007". Bulawayo Athletic Club. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Wisden - ZIMBABWE v NEW ZEALAND 1992-93". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 December 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 20°09′53.41″S 28°35′36.54″E / 20.1648361°S 28.5934833°E / -20.1648361; 28.5934833

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