Zim Cricket Grounds - Info & Updates

[secretzimbo]

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.

(Last Updated March 2022)

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 - still good
Takashinga Cricket Club - pitch is still shit but the facilities are pretty good now
Old Georgians - still nice
Alex Sports Club - Being used for Vigne matches, better than it was a few years ago.
Sunrise Sports Club - Has had some work done on it - now pretty decent.
AFZ/Manyame Ground - Still in use for Vigne matches but pretty poor pitch apparently.

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. Nov 21: Some womens teams have been training there - maybe coming back into use?
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 - Still quite nice, finally saw (womens) international cricket return in Nov 21 after a hiatus.
Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo - Still hosting club cricket - pitch is good but outfield is still pretty bad.
Emakhandeni Cricket Ground, Bulawayo - Haven't seen any club or junior games happening here for the past year or so. Not sure
MacDonald Club ('ZYC Academy of Excellence'), Bulawayo - I don't think the academy is still pen but the ground is still being used locally
Busters Sports Club - Used by 'Bulawayo Centre of Cricket Excellence' until 2019. Hosted some university tournament March 2022.
Crescent Sports Club - Not used for cricket for many many years.

Kwekwe Sports Club, Kwekwe - Love this place, still looking good as of August 2021
Mbizo Cricket Ground, Kwekwe - Still used for cricket daily but its a dump. In horrendous condition.
Kwekwe Queens Sports Club, Kwekwe - March 2022 confirmed as abandoned. So sad. I spent a lot of my youth here both playing cricket and partying.

Mutare Sports Club, Mutare - Professional cricket returned Nov 2021, first time since 2018.

Masvingo Sports Club, Masvingo - Franchise cricket returned Nov 2021, first time since early 2014. Looks to be in okay condition from photos.

Kadoma Sports Club, Kadoma - Still in use locally but the ground condition is poor Nov 21. Used to be lovely years ago.

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 as of Nov 21 is finally back in use after recent renovation!

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.

[zimfan1]

Where does the Alistair Campbell HPC play, HOWSAT cricket academy? They have some good indoor nets.

[Googly]

It's bloody tragic. So in Harare we have HSC, OH (not great) and Takashinga (not great) . OG's is not part of the mix because ZC won't allow them to play.
Basically in a capital city of 3 plus million people there are three club grounds and two of them are shit, despite the hundreds of thousands donated by ICC to get them up to speed for the qualifiers. If you want a career ending injury dive onto the multitude of concrete white ants' nests at OH as well.
If they could get away with Takashinga 1 playing Takashinga 2 once a year in a T10 with one umpire and from that game select a national side for the three formats they'd try and figure out how to make it a T5 and then hope to win a few games against Australia, England, India and NZ rent free at HSC.
We've taken a giant step closer to the shit pile they've been aspiring to this year. Absolutely shameless. As I said earlier, it has to be planned, nobody can be naturally this useless, its not humanly possible. Explain to me how ICC justify giving us one cent?
And there are still people hoping to be given millions to erect a stadium in Vic Falls which was probably going to be next to the Formula 1 track One game of cricket in 45 degrees at 80% humidity would kill off half our remaining 20 players. I see a day when admin will be sharing the last remaining Range Rover and wearing one long pointy black shoe ea to signify their status.


There was also Zimbank in Vainona and Standard Bank in Marlborough which used to work some years ago.
There was also the Police Grounds where Rhodesia used to play the Currie Cups, that was an incredible place. Burned in my brain is Proctor charging in from the sidescreen.

[secretzimbo]

Where does the Alistair Campbell HPC play, HOWSAT cricket academy? They have some good indoor nets.

No idea if Howsat is still going. I think Campbell's lot are nomadic, don't think they have a base as such?


Does Takashinga still have half a sinkhole in the middle of the square? Honestly considering how much Makoni has looted over the years I'm surprised he hasn't invested more of it in making Taka half decent by now.

Also what is Marillier up to? He's said to be on manoeuvres. Is he linked to Wingate? Something is happening there regarding some cricket nets being put up on. I imagine it must be him or Campbell or some other wannabe academy.

[Googly]

Ya I believe that dip is still there. Lethal. It would take 10 minutes to sort out as well. Stays one ft off the ground if u hit the downslope and will take your head off if it hits the upslope. It's the Zimbabwe equivalent of having an oak tree in the outfield.
Campbell's crew use the nets at OG's and I think the main square as well.
I'm very curious about Wingate, some work has gone into that and it still looks a bit ropey. I would think it's tied in with the AC Academy somehow? Wingate has lots of water, so all things are possible.

[Googly]

I don't know the latest with the AC academy either. Last year they had some ZC guys there paying local cheap rates that kept the wheels turning. Whether that happens again I'm not sure, but I have my doubts. ZC have been wanting to do the same for years but it requires a very basic understanding of cricket enthusiasm, coaching and planning which doesn't exist within most of their ranks.
There are a couple of decent youngsters there, so it has gained a bit of traction amongst the school kids.
Brown, Higgins and a couple of others have long since given up private coaching because there just aren't the numbers so AC Acadamy is pretty much the only game in town, unless you hire the private school coach for $10 to make sure your little Johnny is the captain when he should be the scorer.

[Googly]

The original plan was to have a winter academy for the Northern hemisphere guys and the carrot was FC cricket as the 5th franchise from what I recall. It was a grand idea, but without being in total control and not benefiting financially it was vetoed by the pointy shoe brigade.

[Googly]

Here's a guess- maybe something is going on at OG's at the indoor that doesn't suit AC and/or GB and an alternative is being set up.
That OG's set up is owned by that olympian decathlete and maybe rent is now an issue? I don't know, just thinking out loud, seems doubtful, but you never know. Being the only indoor facility you'd think ZC would have some bookings there. It's all such a mess I don't pay much attention anymore.
They have womens cricket, NPL, Club cricket (2 divisions) and franchise cricket and only three grounds in Harare, never mind the different formats.

[secretzimbo]

It's madness really - let OG play half a dozen matches in the Vigne Cup each year which no one really pays attention to anyway, and then ZC would have instantly better relations with them and probably much easier and/or cheaper access to their nets and ground. It seems a pretty simple way to get another ground available. ZC need to get over themselves. A strong OG team competing with Takashinga for the title would be great and might go someway to reigniting old rivalries and the fierceness of club cricket we used to see as well lol.

I know this has been discussed to death and tbf the HMCA did attempt it years ago, but every club needs its own ground. Thats the way to boost facilities long-term. If you want to play, you need a pitch. Your own pitch. All your home games will be played there. No pitch? No play. It would be very painful at first for the first few years but it would recover and people would soon find land or old grounds and tart them up a bit. In an ideal world there would be ZC or government grants Wouldn't have to be anything fancy at all. While we are at it can we link junior cricket and development to these clubs and grounds as well? I'm not really sure what any of these celebrity academies really achieve, AC's included. They are just attempts to make money or buy influence in ZC.

Strong clubs with facilities of their own, junior programmes and strong adult teams that juniors aspire to represent. We can dream, hey?

[Zimco]

Whilst this appears terribly sad on first read it's important for the non Zimbabwean to note that cricket and sport In Zimbabwe has focused on the school level more than most countries. There are some good grounds at that level. And tournaments that other countries don't have for their kids.