View source for Peshawar Club Ground

The '''Peshawar Club Ground''' is a [[cricket]] ground in [[Peshawar]], [[Pakistan]], used for one Test match between [[Indian cricket team|India]] and [[Pakistani cricket team|Pakistan]] in February 1955.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peshawar Club Ground |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/ground/58991.html |work=ESPN Cricinfo |date=17 June 2011 |accessdate=17 June 2011 }}</ref> It staged [[first class cricket]] matches from 1938 to 1987.

==History of matches==
The history of first-class cricket at the Peshawar Club Ground began with the [[North-West Frontier Province cricket team|North West Frontier Province]] in the Indian [[Ranji Trophy]]. After the creation of Pakistan, the NWFP team was admitted in 1949 into the [[Quaid-e-Azam Trophy]], and again played at Peshawar until they were replaced in the Trophy by a [[Peshawar cricket team|Peshawar city team]] in 1956. Before that, in February 1955, Pakistan had entertained India for the only Test match to be played here. In a drawn four-day encounter, [[Polly Umrigar]] hit a century for India before he was run out.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/21/21439.html Pakistan v India, Peshawar 1954-55]</ref>

The following year, [[New Zealand cricket team|New Zealand]] played a [[Governor-General of Pakistan]]'s XI here, while a full-strength Pakistan side beat a non-Test touring team from [[English cricket team in Pakistan in 1955–56|Marylebone Cricket Club]]. For Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches, the Peshawar team switched between this ground and the [[Peshawar Gymkhana Ground]] until 1971. In 1957, Peshawar off spinner [[Haseeb Ahsan]] achieved the best figures on the ground with 13 for 47 in a match against [[Punjab cricket team (Pakistan)|Punjab B]].

Touring teams occasionally visited the ground, though no more Test matches were played. In 1967, an [[Marylebone Cricket Club Under-25 cricket team in Pakistan in 1966–67|MCC Under-25]] side played a Pakistan North Zone team, a match which is notable for [[Mike Brearley]]'s highest first class score. The visitors' captain made 312 [[not out]] in a day as MCC piled up 514 for four against opposition including the later Test captain [[Intikhab Alam]], declared, then won by an innings and 139 runs on the third day. He shared double century stands with [[Alan Knott]] and [[Alan Ormrod]] (records for the first and fifth wickets at the ground), and his innings remains the highest on the ground, despite [[Zakir Butt]]'s 290 for [[Pakistan Railways cricket team|Pakistan Railways]] six years later. Brearley was dropped several times after reaching his double-century and there appears to have been some suggestion that at some stage the scorers may have got Brearley and his batting partner Ormrod mixed up.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bose |first1=Mihir |title=Test Match Grounds of the World |date=1990 |publisher=Willow Books |location=London |isbn=0002182823 |pages=172}}</ref>

Matches by touring teams became more common in the 1970s, with [[English cricket team|England]], [[Indian cricket team|India]], [[New Zealand cricket team|New Zealand]], [[Sri Lankan cricket team|Sri Lanka]] (then not a Test nation) all playing a team at this ground. Most matches were drawn, though England won by the use of two declarations, while New Zealand lost against a team with nine players who would appear in the Test series against them. An International XI captained by [[Vanburn Holder]] also beat a near full-strength Pakistan here in 1976 in a 40-over match.

By November 1984, the new [[Arbab Niaz Stadium]] in Peshawar was ready, and the Club Ground was disused. It hosted Peshawar for the last time in their [[1986-87 Pakistani cricket season|1986–87]] Quaid-e-Azam Trophy campaign, where they played eight home matches, and since then the Arbab Niaz has taken over as Peshawar's international and first class ground of choice.

==International centuries==
A single Test century was scored at the venue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/engine/records/batting/most_runs_innings.html?class=1;id=402;type=ground|title=Peshawar Club Ground / Records / Test matches / High scores|accessdate=27 December 2016}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%"
! No. !! Score !! Player !! Team !! Balls  !! Innings !! Opposing team !! Date !! Result
|-
| 1 || 116* || [[Polly Umrigar]] || {{cr|IND}} || {{ntsh|0}} NA || 2 || {{cr|PAK}} || {{dts|format=dmy|1955|February|13}} || Drawn
|}

==International five-wicket hauls==
Two five-wicket hauls in Test matches were taken at the venue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;ground=402;orderby=start;qualmin1=5;qualval1=wickets;size=200;template=results;type=bowling;view=innings| work=ESPN Cricinfo|accessdate=7 September 2019|title=Statistics - Statsguru - Test Matches - Bowling Records}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 100%"
|- align=center
! scope="col" width="38"|No.
! scope="col" width="145"|Bowler
! scope="col" width="220"|Date
! scope="col" width="120"|Team
! scope="col" width="120"|Opposing team
! scope="col" width="60"|Inn
! scope="col" width="82"|Overs
! scope="col" width="70"|Runs
! scope="col" width="60"|Wkts
! scope="col" width="70"|Econ
! scope="col" width="70"|Result
|-align="center"
|scope="row"| 1 || [[Subhash Gupte]] || {{dts|format=dmy|1955|2|13}} || {{cr|IND}} || {{cr|PAK}} || {{nts|1}} || {{nts|41.3}} || {{nts|63}} || {{nts|5}} || {{nts|1.51}} || Drawn
|- align="center"
|scope="row"| 2 || [[Vinoo Mankad]] || {{dts|format=dmy|1955|2|13}} || {{cr|IND}} || {{cr|PAK}} || {{nts|3}} || {{nts|54}} || {{nts|64}} || {{nts|5}} || {{nts|1.18}} || Drawn
|}

==See also==
*[[List of Test cricket grounds]]
* [[One-Test wonder]]
*[[1938–39 Ranji Trophy]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/22/1533_f.html First-Class Matches played on Peshawar Club Ground (62)]
* [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/22/1533_a.html List A Matches played on Peshawar Club Ground (5)]

{{Cricket grounds in Pakistan}}
{{coord missing|Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}

[[Category:Test cricket grounds in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Stadiums in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Cricket grounds in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Sport in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
[[Category:Sport in Peshawar]]