Bongani Ndlovu, [email protected]
QUEENS Sports Club is set for a major facelift ahead of the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, with bucket seats and floodlights among the planned upgrades.
Zimbabwe Cricket Tournament Director Hamilton Masakadza said seating areas at the Bulawayo venue would be upgraded, while floodlights would be installed in time for the tournament, which Zimbabwe will co-host with South Africa and Namibia.
Some of the equipment is already at the venue and is awaiting to be installed.
Masakadza was speaking yesterday after an International Cricket Council (ICC) delegation, led by ICC Senior Manager – Events Sarah Edgar inspected Queens Sports Club as the final stop on its week-long tour of Zimbabwe’s proposed World Cup venues.
“We’re redoing some of the stands at Harare Sports Club and doing them up with actual bucket seats. We’re going to do the same at Queens as well,” said Masakadza.
“Some of the areas, especially the bricked-up areas here, are going to be transformed quite a bit with those bucket seats. So those are going to look very different.”
He said floodlights were also planned for Queen’s as part of efforts to prepare the venue for the global showpiece.
“In terms of putting up some lights as well, we’re looking to do that at Queens. We’re going to put up lights in time for the World Cup,” he said.
Masakadza said organisers were working to have existing facilities at Queens and Harare Sports Club to meet the tournament’s requirements, which have evolved since Zimbabwe last co-hosted the competition in 2003.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a little bit different for Victoria Falls, which is a new project and it’s easier to integrate all of those into the spaces.
“At Harare Sports Club and at Queens, we’re working out how to adjust some of the spaces to accommodate some of the new requirements and developments,” he said.
He said progress had been made in planning the modifications, with organisers identifying areas that needed to be adjusted ahead of the tournament.
During the inspection, the delegation assessed the pitch, outfield, broadcast facilities, changing rooms, scoreboards and seating areas.
Edgar said the ICC was impressed by the progress made in improving Zimbabwe’s venues over the past year.
“We’ve been really impressed with the progress that’s been done on a lot of the baseline elements to get the grounds to the standard that we need for the Cricket World Cup,” she said.
She said improvements to ground preparation and facilities had been encouraging, adding that broadcast areas had become easier to navigate following enhancements at the venues.
“The broadcast areas are much simpler to navigate, for example, with some of the enhancements that have been done, and we’ve got a clear plan of improvements that are still to be done,” said Edgar.
Victoria Falls, where a new cricket venue is being developed, was another highlight of the inspection programme.
Edgar said the destination would offer visiting supporters an opportunity to combine cricket with tourism.
“I think the international fans are going to be in for a real treat to go to Victoria Falls, not only for the ground itself, which is going to be a very nice finished product, but for the actual place itself.
It’s a fantastic tourist destination,” she said.
The ICC delegation began its inspections at Takashinga Cricket Club in Highfield, Harare, on Monday, October 5. The venue has been earmarked to host warm-up matches ahead of the tournament.
The team subsequently assessed Harare Sports Club before travelling to Victoria Falls for inspections on Wednesday and Thursday, with Bulawayo completing the programme.
The 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia, marking the return of the men’s 50-over global showpiece to Africa for the first time since the 2003 edition, which was hosted by Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya.
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