Walking through history at Queen’s Park Oval

The Queen’s Park Oval Museum holds an exhibit which commemorates the 50th Test match played at the venue. The match took place in 2001, featuring South Africa’s second Test against the West Indies in Port of Spain.

South African captain Shaun Pollock (R) celebrates after winning a Test match against West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain in 2021. | Photo Credit: Lynne Sladky/AP

The Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain did not host any T20 World Cup matches this year but served as a training base for the teams.  Much like the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which is in the heart of Bengaluru, just off the central MG Road, the Queen’s Park Oval is located on Tragarete Road, one of the busiest areas in the region. This venue offers a walk through its museum, which reaffirms its rich history.

In the museum, alongside Brian Lara’s signed bats and Ricky Ponting’s autographed bat and helmet from his final Test in the West Indies, there are many other significant artefacts. One small but notable display is particularly relevant given the ongoing T20 World Cup and one of its finalists.

This exhibit commemorates the 50th Test match played at Queen’s Park Oval. The match took place in 2001, featuring South Africa’s second Test against the West Indies in Port of Spain. South Africa secured a dramatic victory, bowling out the home side for 162 to achieve a 69-run triumph, thus taking a one-nil lead in the five-match series following the opening draw in Georgetown, Guyana. This game was particularly notable as Courtney Walsh made history by becoming the first bowler to take 500 Test wickets. Walsh claimed his 499th wicket by dismissing Gary Kirsten, caught behind, and then trapped Jacques Kallis lbw just two balls later to reach the milestone. Man-of-the-Match Daryl Cullinan’s impressive scores of 103 and 73, coupled with the West Indies’ spectacular collapse, losing five wickets for just 51 runs in the fourth innings, resulted in a win for the Proteas.

Courtney Walsh of the West Indies celebrates with fellow West Indies team-mates his 500th Test Wicket after trapping Jacques Kallis lbw for a duck during the 2nd Test played between South Africa and the West Indies at Queens Park Oval in Port of Spain Trinidad in 2021. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The display includes three framed bats, each signed by the West Indies team, the South African team, and Daryl Cullinan. On his Gray-Nicolls match bat, Cullinan wrote: “Congratulations on your 50th Test match celebration. All the very best in all you do, and thanks for the honour!”

Additionally, the exhibit features two match balls used by the host and visiting teams, a commemorative medal, the stumps used in that Test with Cable & Wireless - who sponsored the ICC Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 - embossed on it and a sample of the turf, which the museum curator is quick to point out, was “slow and did not encourage free strokeplay.”

South Africa would go on to win the five-match Test series 2-1 and follow it up with a 5-2 drubbing of the West Indies in the ODIs. Twenty-three years later, another South African team, led by Aiden Markram, is on the brink of achieving something remarkable on Caribbean soil. It is set to face India in its first T20 World Cup final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday. “Who knows, the bat that hits the winning runs could just end up here,” chuckles the museum curator.

READ |  South Africa’s semifinal win over Afghanistan, a gorgeous, gaudy excess of emotions

The museum offers something for everyone. For fans of a certain vintage, whose nostalgia continues to prevail, there’s a photograph capturing the tense final moments of the fourth Test in Adelaide from the West Indies tour of Australia in 1960/61. It immortalises MacKay and Kline’s splendid rear-guard action, with every West Indies fielder crowding around the bat, that denied the visiting team a series lead, with Australia ultimately winning 2-1.  

There is also the pristine Chaconia Gold Medal awarded to Queen’s Park in its centenary year in 1996. According to the website of the Office of the President of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, the Chaconia medal “may be awarded to any person (citizen as well as non-citizen) who has performed long and meritorious service to Trinidad and Tobago tending to promote the national welfare or strengthen the community spirit.”

There are reserved parking spots for four all-time greats - Lara, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, at the ground, which just go to show Queen’s Park’s enduring love for the game and those who play it, past and present.