The Queen's Park Oval is a sports stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, used mostly for cricket matches. It opened in 1896. Privately owned by the Queen's Park Cricket Club, it is currently the second largest capacity cricket ground in the West Indies with seating for about 20,000 spectators.
It has hosted more Test matches than any other ground in the Caribbean with 60 as of January 2018, and has also hosted a number of One-Day International (ODI) matches, including many World Series Cricket games in 1979, and matches of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The Trinidad and Tobago cricket team play most of their home matches at the ground, and it is the home ground of the Caribbean Premier League team Trinbago Knight Riders.
Considered by many players, journalists and critics as one of the most picturesque cricket venues,Beckles, Stoddart (1999), p. 141. the ground first hosted a Test match in February 1930 when England toured the Caribbean, though it had previously hosted many first class tours as early as the 1897 tour under Lord Hawke. The pavilion dates back to 1896, though there were extensive renovations in the 1950s and in 2007, prior to the World Cup and following an earthquake. The "Concrete Stand" was renamed the "Learie Constantine Stand" in recognition of that former West Indies cricketer. The first ODI match at the ground was in March 1983, and the first Twenty20 International in 2009.
As well as the main cricket stadium, the facility includes a gym, indoor and outdoor cricket practice nets, two squash courts and two outdoor tennis courts. The cricket field has also been used to host several domestic and international football matches, and several music events.
Cricketing history Early years
The Queen's Park Oval Cricket Club leased the Queen's Park Oval in 1896, moving there from its first home at the Queen's Park Savannah, where it had existed since its founding in 1891. The natural soil at the ground prevented turf wickets from being laid down, due to the damage caused by the mole crickets that inhabited it so, when the club moved to its new ground, the groundsmen laid a pitch of clay with a wicket made of matting laid on top. A popular venue due to its capacity (7,000 when first constructed, the highest in the Caribbean) the ground was very profitable for the owning cricket club. The first match recorded by CricketArchive, CricInfo and Wisden took place on 29 January 1897, between Lord Hawke's touring party and a team put out by the Queen's Park Oval Club. The match, which was a draw but saw the ground's first century—119 by Plum Warner—was not counted as first-class. Only a few days later on February 1 the ground's maiden first-class fixture took place between Trinidad and the same Lord Hawke's XI. The home team won by 137 runs. The two teams met at the Oval again on 5 February, when Trinidad were victorious once more. Arthur Priestley's touring eleven then played a Queen's Park XI on February 12, with the game drawn.
During the first decades of the 20th century, the private Queen's Park Oval was a very exclusive cricket ground and club. C. L. R. James records that "they were for the most part white and often wealthy" and that "a black man in the Queen's Park was rare and usually anonymous."James (1963), pp. 65-66. The Queen's Park club was "the big shot" of the local cricket on the island,James (1963), pp. 71-75. and touring matches were the mainstay of cricket at the ground for the first few years. They also contributed to the growth of cricket on the island, for trial matches were held on weekends while a tour was in progress, and local talent was invited to play.James (1963), pp. 80-81. In April 1899, Trinidad played a Barbados-based XI led by Arthur St. Hill, an early domestic West Indian fixture. By 1900, Inter-Colonial Tournament matches were taking place, with the final between Barbados and British Guiana taking place at the Queen's Park Oval. These became more and more frequent in the first decade of the 20th century, along with more tour games against the invitational XIs of Richard Bennett and Lord Brackley. The ground hosted the finals of the 1906 and 1910 Inter-Colonial Tournaments.
In 1911 and in 1913, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) toured the West Indies, with four matches played in total between the MCC and Trinidad at the Queen's Park Oval across both tours. Then, on 20 February 1913, the MCC played a combined West Indies cricket team, who was playing one of its earliest matches as a representative eleven, and only its fourth against an MCC side. Harry Ince scored 167 in the West Indian first innings, Richard Ollivierre took a five-wicket haul and Joseph Rogers took a six-for as the MCC slid to a heavy defeat. The match was the first between the West Indies and the MCC to have taken place at the Queen's Park Oval. Though cricket was largely interrupted by World War I, normal practice resumed with the ground hosting the Inter-Colonial Tournament finals in 1921, 1925 and 1929.
Test matches On 1 February 1930, the Queen's Park Oval hosted its first Test match. The second Test of the MCC 1929–30 tour of the West Indies saw England, under Les Ames, defeat the West Indies under Errol Hunte, thanks largely to a century by the England captain and a double-century by Patsy Hendren. The ground also hosted the Second Test of the 1935 tour, which started on 24 January. The match saw the West Indies record its first Test match victory at the ground, defeating Bob Wyatt's England by 217 runs. Between the Tests, the ground had also hosted several of the first-class matches played during the tour, as well as continuing to host matches in the Inter-Colonial Tournament, including the 1935 and 1937 finals.
The outbreak of World War II halted Test cricket at the ground after the 1935 tour, but domestic cricket continued. 1939 was the last year of the Inter-Colonial Tournament and, throughout the war years, the Queen's Park Oval hosted several first-class games between Trinidad and either Barbados or British Guiana.
International cricket did not return to the Queen's Park Oval until 1947 when the MCC toured and played Trinidad twice at the ground in the lead-up to the first post-war Test, played at the Queen's Park Oval on 11 February 1948. England drew with the West Indies, captained by Clyde Walcott, despite centuries from both West Indian openers. In 1952, the original pavilion was replaced with a two-tier structure as part of an extensive renovation of the ground. In 1953 India toured the West Indies and played the First and Third Tests at the ground. On 17 May 1954, the Oval then hosted England once more and the home team scored 681/8d, which remains the highest team score at the ground. Everton Weekes scored 206 of the runs, the second of two double centuries scored by him at the Oval, following a knock of 207 during the aforementioned tour by India. This was the final match played on the clay surface with matting laid on top.
From then on, turf wickets were prepared in an attempt to balance batting and bowling at the venue. More advanced techniques were introduced and a new pitch laid in 1955.Gumbs et al. (1991), p. xv. Later that year, the ground hosted the second Test of an Australian tour. Pakistan came in 1957, followed by England two years later. On 28 January 1960, during the latter tour, England faced the West Indies at the Oval. Batting in front of a 30,000-strong home crowd on the third day, the West Indies fell from 22 for no loss to 98/8. The crowd began to throw bottles onto the pitch, some ran on to the field, and general disorder spread until the game had to be halted.James (1963), pp. 298-299. Wisden called the match one of the "most dramatic Test matches for many years" and labelled the disorder "unfortunate" and "remarkable", noting that the situation "became so bad that a riot developed." Officials of the ground and the West Indies team had to apologise to the MCC, as had the Governor of Trinidad, Eric Williams and Learie Constantine.James (1963), p. 298. The match resumed and England went on to victory, and took the series 1:0. India returned to the West Indies 1961 and played two further Tests at the Oval.
The Beaumont Cup competition was held at the Queen's Park Oval from 1958 onwards and, from 1964, the Regional Four Day Competition also began, with the ground hosting Trinidad home games for both competitions. Australia returned to the ground in 1965 for the Second and Fifth Tests of the tour. The latter saw a heavy West Indian defeat. However, across the series they were victorious 2–1 in what Wisden called the "series for the unofficial championship of the world."
The West Indian first-class domestic tournament, renamed the Shell Shield, continued at the ground in the winter of 1965. England under Colin Cowdrey returned in January 1968 and a generous declaration by Gary Sobers allowed England to win and level the series. That was followed by a tour by India in 1971. India were victorious, the first time they had ever been against the West Indies in the Caribbean. The score of 220 made by Indian Sunil Gavaskar at the Queen's Park Oval during the Test match there remains the highest score made by any player at the ground. Gavaskar would go on to make a total of four centuries at the ground, the most by any player. The bowling analysis of 9/95 by West Indian Jack Noreiga was also made during the same tour and remains the best bowling analysis at the Queen's Park Oval. New Zealand returned that winter, followed by an Australian tour over the winter of 1972–73.
West Indian ascendency
The West Indians had begun to experience difficulties in the final years of the 1960s. The Indian defeat had come on the back of defeats away to Australia and England. Though they played well against Australia on the 1972–73 tour, they lost 2:1. In the Fourth Test in Guyana they fell to a 10-wicket defeat after being dismissed for 109 in their second innings. The utilisation of aggressive fast bowlers such as Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson had inspired West Indian captain to bring into his team men of similar virtues. In the 1976 Indian tour of the West Indies, the Queen's Park Oval hosted the Second and Third Tests. The West Indians played Andy Roberts and Michael Holding in both games, though India played well enough to draw the first and win the second of these fixtures. Their victory in the second involved a record 406-run fourth innings to chase the West Indies total down.
Meanwhile, in domestic cricket, the Beaumont Cup had been renamed the Texaco Cup, and both it and the Shell Shield continued to feature at the Queen's Park Oval. The first one-day cricket matches had begun in the West Indies, and the Queen's Park Oval hosted its inaugural Gillette Cup match between Trinidad and Tobago and the Windward Islands in February 1976. Several of these games would be hosted at the ground each season.
Pakistan toured the West Indies in 1977, by which time the hosts were becoming a major force in world cricket. For the next decade the team would win 40 and lose only six Tests. The Second and Fourth Tests of the 1977 Pakistan tour were both at the Queen's Park Oval, and the West Indians comfortable took the former thanks to 8/29 by pacer Colin Croft, supported by Roberts and Joel Garner. Further success came in 1978 when two Tests against Australia at the ground both saw heavy West Indian victories. The First Test of the series saw Australia routed for 90 in their first innings by Garner, Croft and Roberts and a defeat to the hosts by an innings and 106 runs. A six-wicket-haul by Vanburn Holder in the Fourth Test of the series, also at the Queen's Park Oval, ensured another West Indian victory. With World Series Cricket (WSC) commencing a West Indies tour in 1979, the third "Supertest" was held at the Queen's Park Oval. With centuries from Bruce Laird and Greg Chappell, the Australian WSC team secured victory.