Bulawayo Athletic Club is a sports club in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The Bulawayo Athletic Club Ground is a 12,000-capacity stadium.
History The club was founded in 1894 and has been a significant venue for many international sporting events. Cricket is the main sport played at the club, but tennis, bowls, squash and billiards are also played.
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.
At the Hockey Africa Cup of Champions held in Bulawayo in 2014, the Bulawayo Athletic Club ladies team reached the competition's final. Two Bulawayo Athletic Club players were in the gold medal winning Zimbabwe ladies hockey team at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Patricia McKillop and Helen Volk.
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. 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.
International Centuries
Test Centuries Only two Test centuries have been scored at the venue.
No. Score Player Team Balls Opposing team Date Result 1 119 Rod Latham 214 Drawn 2 101* Kevin Arnott 200 Drawn
One Day International Centuries Four One Day International centuries have been scored at the venue.
No. Score Player Team Balls Opposing team Date Result 1 157* Calum MacLeod 146 Won 2 127 Richie Berrington 136 Won 3 136 Brandon McMullen 121 Won 4 162 Paul Stirling 134 Won
List of Five Wicket Hauls Tests Only one Test five wicket haul has been taken at the venue. No.BowlerDateTeamOpposing teamInnOversRunsWktsEconResult 1 Dipak Patel Drawn
One Day Internationals Two ODI five-wicket hauls have been taken at the venue. No.BowlerDateTeamOpposing teamInnOversRunsWktsResult 1 Bilal Khan Lost 2 Chris Greaves Won
See also List of Test cricket grounds One-Test wonder
References
External links
brmtaylor.com Club Players ESPNcricinfo page on Bulawayo Athletic Club CricketArchive page on Bulawayo Athletic Club Zimbabwe Cricket