Sports / Local
Queens Sports Club Overview
31 Aug 2011 at 06:23hrs | Views
Established: 1890s
Capacity: 9,000
Floodlights: No
Ends: City End, Airport End
Home Team: Matabeleland Tuskers
Test History: 17 Tests; 1 home win; 9 away wins; 7 draws
Last 10 Tests: 1 home win; 7 away wins; 2 draws
Last 10 tosses: 7 batted first (1 win, 5 defeats, 1 draw); 3 bowled first (2 wins, 1 draw)
Overview
Named after Queen Victoria, Queens Sports Club is situated close to Bulawayo's city centre and serves as Zimbabwe's second Test ground, having taken over that duty from Bulawayo Athletic Club in 1994.
Although it received a facelift ahead of the 2003 World Cup it has retained its traditional charm, with big trees providing shade to those on the grass banks on one side of the ground and an old pavilion on the other.
The ground has not been a stronghold for Zimbabwe, who have only ever won one Test here, and that against a Bangladesh side who were still new to Test cricket.
It is therefore best remembered as the venue for the dramatic draw between Zimbabwe and England in 1996, when Nick Knight was run out attempting what would have been the winning run, as well as playing host when Paul Strang achieved the best innings figures by a Zimbabwean bowler in a Test - 8 for 109 against New Zealand in 2000.
Last Time Out
Zimbabwe succumbed to their seventh successive innings defeat against the senior Test nations since their player rebellion of April 2004, going down to India by an innings and 90 runs in September 2005 as they edged closer to the Test exit door.
Irfan Pathan took nine wickets in the match, with skipper Tatenda Taibu the only Zimbabwean batsman to stand up against an India who, aside from the absent Sachin Tendulkar, were at full strength.
The first day was the only one on which Zimbabwe competed as they won the toss and elected to bat on a typically good Bulawayo batting strip, and went to stumps on 265 for seven. That quickly translated to 279 all out the following morning, with Pathan clinching the final three wickets to wrap up a five-wicket haul and leave Taibu stranded on 71.
In reply VVS Laxman and skipper Sourav Ganguly hit centuries and Pathan stroked fifty in a total of 554 all out, leaving Zimbabwe with 276 to get if they wanted to make their visitors bat again. That was clearly not going to happen when they went to stumps on day three on 67 for six, with Pathan adding four wickets to his tally.
Although Taibu made another fifty and the last pair of Gavin Ewing and Blessing Mahwire put on 47, the game was all over by lunch on the fourth day as Harbhajan Singh finished the innings with 4 for 59.
Happy Hunting Ground
Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza and Tatenda Taibu are the only players in the current batch who took part in that Test against India, and none of them have had a great deal of success at Queens.
Taibu's two half-centuries lifted his ground average to 31 - one point above his career average - while Masakadza has never managed a half-century here in four Tests.
However Ray Price has had some success in his five outings at Queens, taking 23 wickets at 31.73 - numbers which compare favourably to his career average of 35.61.
There are three players in Pakistan's squad who played in their last Test in Bulawayo - back in 2002, when they recorded a ten-wicket win. The first is Taufeeq Umar, who scored 34 and 21 not out, and the second is Younis Khan, who made 52. The third is Waqar Younis, who will coach Pakistan for one final tour. He knows a thing or two about the game of course, and took five wickets here in that game.
Weather Forecast: Winters are traditionally dry in Bulawayo, so the chances of rain are minimal. Expect sunny days with highs in the mid- to high-20s.
Conclusion
Traditionally Queens has been a batsman's paradise, with five of the first six Tests at the ground ending in a draw. That changed to some extent in the last decade, when the only drawn matches were rain affected.
That suggests there is more life in the wicket than there used to be, and although it's difficult to judge given that Zimbabwe were so woeful after 2004, the fact that just two domestic four-day matches out of seven last season ended in a stalemate supports that claim.
The team who wins the toss is very likely to bat first though. While that hasn't yielded much success in the last 10 Tests here, that is mainly because the fact that, of the seven times that the toss winner opted to bat, six of those saw the visiting side call incorrectly and allow Zimbabwe first use, with the hosts going on to lose all but once (a draw).
Given that Zimbabwe will know they're up against it in this Test against Pakistan, it's likely the groundsman will be preparing as good a batting wicket as possible to give the hosts every chance of taking the game into the fifth day.
If anything the pitch might favour the fast bowlers a touch, given that Pakistan are missing their first-choice pacemen. Spinners have usually had some success towards the back end of Tests here, but Zimbabwe won't want to give Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez anything to work with.
Capacity: 9,000
Floodlights: No
Ends: City End, Airport End
Home Team: Matabeleland Tuskers
Test History: 17 Tests; 1 home win; 9 away wins; 7 draws
Last 10 Tests: 1 home win; 7 away wins; 2 draws
Last 10 tosses: 7 batted first (1 win, 5 defeats, 1 draw); 3 bowled first (2 wins, 1 draw)
Overview
Named after Queen Victoria, Queens Sports Club is situated close to Bulawayo's city centre and serves as Zimbabwe's second Test ground, having taken over that duty from Bulawayo Athletic Club in 1994.
Although it received a facelift ahead of the 2003 World Cup it has retained its traditional charm, with big trees providing shade to those on the grass banks on one side of the ground and an old pavilion on the other.
The ground has not been a stronghold for Zimbabwe, who have only ever won one Test here, and that against a Bangladesh side who were still new to Test cricket.
It is therefore best remembered as the venue for the dramatic draw between Zimbabwe and England in 1996, when Nick Knight was run out attempting what would have been the winning run, as well as playing host when Paul Strang achieved the best innings figures by a Zimbabwean bowler in a Test - 8 for 109 against New Zealand in 2000.
Last Time Out
Zimbabwe succumbed to their seventh successive innings defeat against the senior Test nations since their player rebellion of April 2004, going down to India by an innings and 90 runs in September 2005 as they edged closer to the Test exit door.
Irfan Pathan took nine wickets in the match, with skipper Tatenda Taibu the only Zimbabwean batsman to stand up against an India who, aside from the absent Sachin Tendulkar, were at full strength.
The first day was the only one on which Zimbabwe competed as they won the toss and elected to bat on a typically good Bulawayo batting strip, and went to stumps on 265 for seven. That quickly translated to 279 all out the following morning, with Pathan clinching the final three wickets to wrap up a five-wicket haul and leave Taibu stranded on 71.
In reply VVS Laxman and skipper Sourav Ganguly hit centuries and Pathan stroked fifty in a total of 554 all out, leaving Zimbabwe with 276 to get if they wanted to make their visitors bat again. That was clearly not going to happen when they went to stumps on day three on 67 for six, with Pathan adding four wickets to his tally.
Although Taibu made another fifty and the last pair of Gavin Ewing and Blessing Mahwire put on 47, the game was all over by lunch on the fourth day as Harbhajan Singh finished the innings with 4 for 59.
Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza and Tatenda Taibu are the only players in the current batch who took part in that Test against India, and none of them have had a great deal of success at Queens.
Taibu's two half-centuries lifted his ground average to 31 - one point above his career average - while Masakadza has never managed a half-century here in four Tests.
However Ray Price has had some success in his five outings at Queens, taking 23 wickets at 31.73 - numbers which compare favourably to his career average of 35.61.
There are three players in Pakistan's squad who played in their last Test in Bulawayo - back in 2002, when they recorded a ten-wicket win. The first is Taufeeq Umar, who scored 34 and 21 not out, and the second is Younis Khan, who made 52. The third is Waqar Younis, who will coach Pakistan for one final tour. He knows a thing or two about the game of course, and took five wickets here in that game.
Weather Forecast: Winters are traditionally dry in Bulawayo, so the chances of rain are minimal. Expect sunny days with highs in the mid- to high-20s.
Conclusion
Traditionally Queens has been a batsman's paradise, with five of the first six Tests at the ground ending in a draw. That changed to some extent in the last decade, when the only drawn matches were rain affected.
That suggests there is more life in the wicket than there used to be, and although it's difficult to judge given that Zimbabwe were so woeful after 2004, the fact that just two domestic four-day matches out of seven last season ended in a stalemate supports that claim.
The team who wins the toss is very likely to bat first though. While that hasn't yielded much success in the last 10 Tests here, that is mainly because the fact that, of the seven times that the toss winner opted to bat, six of those saw the visiting side call incorrectly and allow Zimbabwe first use, with the hosts going on to lose all but once (a draw).
Given that Zimbabwe will know they're up against it in this Test against Pakistan, it's likely the groundsman will be preparing as good a batting wicket as possible to give the hosts every chance of taking the game into the fifth day.
If anything the pitch might favour the fast bowlers a touch, given that Pakistan are missing their first-choice pacemen. Spinners have usually had some success towards the back end of Tests here, but Zimbabwe won't want to give Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez anything to work with.
Source - www.cricket365.com
