MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

St Georges Park Cricket Grounds

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St George’s Park is a multi-use park in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The park is the oldest park in Port Elizabeth and most commonly associated with the St George’s cricket grounds which are the grounds of the second oldest cricket club in South Africa and located within the park.

The Port Elizabeth Bowling Green Club, the oldest lawn bowling club in South Africa, has been located in the park since its founding in 1882. The collection of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, formerly the King George VI Art Gallery, is housed in two buildings that frame the entrance to the park. The St George’s Park Swimming Baths complex comprises a Olympic sized swimming pool with a diving area. The complex also contains the Master Harold tearoom which was used as the setting for the apartheid era play Master Harold and the Boys by Athol Fugard. The Mannville Open Air Theatre, constructed in 1971, is used as part of the annual Port Elizabeth Shakespearean Festival. The Sea Scouts facility, Sea Scouts Hall, is the former home of the 72nd Air School, a Second World War Women’s Auxiliary Air Force basic training school. The Port Elizabeth Lawn Tennis Club, Prince Alfred’s Guard Memorial, Pearson Conservatory and the Port Elizabeth Cenotaph other prominent features of the park.

St Georges is also known as the venue that hosted the first Cricket Test, the first women’s international Test, the last Test before South Africa’s expulsion from world cricket, the first ever Test series win against Australia, the first Rebel Test, the first Test victory for South Africa with the resumption of ‘normal’ cricket and being the sixth oldest cricket ground in the world.

St Georges Park houses Eastern Province Cricket and the Chevrolet Warriors.

[streetview width=”100%” height=”250px” lat=”-33.967747″ lng=”25.610817″ heading=”-50.80645161290321″ pitch=”-6.3655913978494585″ zoom=”1″][/streetview]One of the entrances to the St Georges Park Cricket grounds is through the Frielinghaus Gate opened on 16 April 1938.

The Frielinghaus stand and gate is named in honour of H.O. “Chappie” Frielinghaus who was a sitting member of Parliament for Port Elizabeth South at the time.

Chappie was President of the Port Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce, the Wool Buyers’ Federation, the EP Woolbuyers’ Association, the EP Rugby Union, the EP Cricket Union, the Port Elizabeth Club, the BESI (PE), and the Crusader Football Club.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.