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The Cricket Grounds Of Australia |
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Contents:
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Western Australian Cricket Association Ground
The Gabba
The Adelaide Oval
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Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) |
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The Melbourne Cricket Ground is regarded as Australia's premier sporting venue. For over one hundred years, it has played host to many of the country's biggest cricket and Australian Rules Football matches, and many other significant sporting contests besides. It was, in fact, even the centrepiece of the Olympic Games of 1956. The 'G (as it is affectionately known by the people of Melbourne) is located a short distance to the east of the city's CBD and is easily accessible by both public transport and by foot; it is common, for example, for business people to walk to the arena after work to watch the second session of day-night cricket internationals. Prior to a series of developments in the 1980s and 1990s, it possessed a capacity of around 125,000; since that time, the extension of individual seating to virtually all of its reaches has reduced that figure to somewhere closer to 97,000. In short, it is an imposing stadium: the three-tiered Great Southern Stand (completed in 1992) bounds the perimeter of one half of the ground and holds close to 50,000 people; there are also vast banks of seating in the Ponsford Stand, Olympic Stand and Members' Reserve. It is also replete with a Gallery of Sport, two giant electronic scoreboards, and a vast array of corporate and media facilities.
Notwithstanding the fact that various curators drew fire from players and spectators alike for producing a succession of wearing, low bouncing surfaces through the 1980s and early 1990s, pitches at the MCG have, for most of its history, generally facilitated well balanced contests between bat and ball. No better has this been exemplified than in famous matches in its recent past such as the 1982-83 Test between Australia and England; the thrilling Australia-New Zealand decider in 1987-88; and the 1992 World Cup Final between Pakistan and England.
Extract From - http://content.cricinfo.com/australia/content/ground/56441.html
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Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) |
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Sydney Cricket Ground:
Situated in Moore Park in the city's east, the Sydney Cricket Ground is one of the world's most famous cricketing venues. For a stadium in a major centre, it has a relatively limited capacity (a little over 40,000) but this has the direct benefit of ensuring that spectators are close to the action from virtually any point in the ground. Its limited capacity is, in fact, essentially the result of the extension over recent years of seating to most parts of a stadium now devoid of its long famous hill and instead dominated by the Brewongle, Churchill, O'Reilly, Noble and Doug Walters Stands. The green-roofed Ladies pavilion remains, still one of cricket's most famous landmarks.
Cricket has been played at the ground from as long ago as the 1848, then known as the Garrison Ground, but many other sports, predominantly football codes, have established a presence, to such an extent no less that a bike track actually ringed the playing surface between the 1890s and 1920s. This relationship has also been tested by the generally strained connection between the SCG Trust (the body appointed to control the ground) and the New South Wales Cricket Association, the low point of which was reached in the late 1970s when Neville Wran's State government created legislation to reconfigure the composition of the Trust and bring Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket to the ground.
In its earlier incarnations, the pitches were favourable for batting, and many mammoth scores were produced. The highest of these (in an individual sense) was compiled in the 1929-30 season, when Sir Donald Bradman made his celebrated personal best of 452* for New South Wales in a match against Queensland. From the early 1970s though, the square's character has undergone a number of revisions. Principally, it has come to be seen as a spinner's paradise - never more clearly than in memorable Australian Test wins over West Indies in 1984-85 (when Bob Holland and Murray Bennett piloted the home team to a crushing success) and in 1988-89 (when the left arm orthodox spin of Allan Border claimed an unlikely 11 scalps). Of course, this is not to say that the limelight has been stolen purely by slow bowlers; West Indian Brian Lara's masterful 277 in 1992-93 and paceman Fanie De Villiers' match haul of 10 for 123 at the forefront of South Africa's amazing five run win in 1993-94 underlining the point.
Extract From - http://content.cricinfo.com/australia/content/ground/56544.html
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Western Australian Cricket Association Ground (WACA) |
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The WACA (Western Australian Cricket Ground), which is built on old swamp land, has been the home to many sports, including AFL, rugby (both codes) and soccer, but its real fame is as a cricket ground. Although it was first used in 1890, transport problems meant it was not part of Australia's main cricket community. Then arduous trip from the east was eased a little with the building of a railway, but the journey still took several days. It was only with the introduction of scheduled flights that Perth become truly accessible.
The WACA staged its first Test in 1970-71 and soon established a reputation for being a fast and hard track, and that has continued right to today. The often intense Perth heat is famously eased in the afternoon by the Freemantle Doctor, a breeze which sweeps in down the Swan River.
But the future of the WACA has been increasingly under the spotlight and despite investment in the spectator accommodation, the switch of AFL to the nearby purpose-built Subiaco Oval (capacity 43,000) has led to serious financial issues and the WACA struggles to pay its way.
In 2002, the ground was redeveloped and its capacity reduced to make it more economical. Features included building a new small grandstand and players pavilion, reducing the size of the playing arena, and replacing seats with grass hills on each side and replacing all the seats with new ones. As a result, the pernament capacity of the stadium is 22,000 with the use of temporary stands used for all major events to boost the capaciy to 24,500.
Extract From - http://content.cricinfo.com/australia/content/ground/56490.html
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The Gabba |
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The Brisbane Cricket Ground is better known as "The Gabba" and comes from the suburb of Woolloongabba in which the ground is situated.
There are two theories about the meaning of the Aboriginal words from which "Woolloongabba" is derived - "whirling water" or "fight talk place".
"The Gabba" dates back to 1895, when the land was designated as the site for a cricket ground.
The first event conducted at The Gabba was a cricket match between Parliament and the Press on 19 December 1896. The result was a tie (61 runs each).
Until January 1931, Sheffield Shield and Test cricket was played at the Exhibition Grounds.
The first Sheffield Shield match scheduled for The Gabba (31 January to 4 February 1931) was washed out without the captains even bothering to toss.
The first Test match played at The Gabba was against South Africa from 27 November to 3 December 1931. Don Bradman made 226 in the first innings of this Test and this remains the highest individual score in a Test played in Brisbane.
In the 1950s and 1960s The Gabba hosted soccer matches involving the English first division clubs Blackpool (with Sir Stanley Matthews), Everton, Manchester United and the Chinese and South African National Soccer teams.
Events held at The Gabba over its 110 year history includes:
The Redevelopment
From November 1974 until early 1993, there were very few improvements at the Gabba.
The 1993 Master Plan set out a 15 year plan to completely redevelop the Gabba.
Stage 1 saw the removal of the greyhound track and reconfiguration of the playing field to the same dimensions as the MCG.
Stage 2 (construction of the temporary Western Stand, installation of terrace seating and provision of corporate suites and boxes) was completed by Easter 1993, when the Brisbane Bears played their first match at the Gabba as permanent tenants.
Stage 3 (Northern Stand, lights for night sport and new scoreboards) was completed by the end of 1995.
Stage 4 consists of Eastern Stand and 5 bays of the Western Stand. The Eastern Stand opened on 27 March 1999 bringing capacity to 23,000 and the 5 bay Western Stand opened on 1 May 1999, bringing capacity to over 26,000.
Stage 5 (the 15 bay Southern Stand) was completed in December 1999, bringing ground capacity to 37,600.
Stage 6 has seen the removal of the Brisbane Lions Social Club to be replaced by a new fully seated grandstand increasing The Gabba's capacity to 42,200.
The playing field was totally replaced with a USGA sand profile stabilised turf field in a 12 week period after the One Day International cricket matches in January 2000.
The dimensions of the playing field are 170.6 metres (east-west) by 149.9 metres (north-south) when measured fence-to-fence. The Gabba is slightly larger than the MCG, which is 172.9m by 147.3m. The cricket wicket block was reinstated after the Olympic Soccer in September 2000.
$128 million has been spent in the eight years since the Lions moved permanently to the Gabba in April 1993. Queensland government grants account for 56% of this amount, the balance coming from Brisbane Cricket Ground reserves and from loans taken out by the Brisbane Cricket Ground and financed by future Brisbane Cricket Ground revenue and increased rents from the tenants.
Extract From - http://www.thegabba.org.au/content/venue.asp?name=Gabba_History
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Adelaide Oval |
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The Adelaide Oval remains one of cricket's most pictureseque Test venues despite recent developments to increase the capacity and upgrade the facilities. It position, situated amid gardens and trees and with the spire of St Peter's Cathedral as a backdrop, gives it a quintessentially English feel.
The ground opened in 1873 amid bitter local disputes over boundaries and money, and in its early years the pitches were often dreadful. Things gradually improved, although Adelaide's tendency to attract controversy remained. In 1884-85 it staged its first Test, but that was dogged by arguments with the English tourists over appearance money and who would umpire. In 1932-33, the Bodyline affair reached its nadir at The Oval when Bill Woodfull and Bert Oldfield were struck, and on the third day mounted police patrolled to keep the 50, 962 spectators in order. But these days the pitches are true and disputes rarer.
The ground has hosted many sports other than cricket - the biggest attendance there was 62,543 to watch the 1965 AFL final between Port Adelaide and Sturt - as well as concerts.
The ground is a true oval, which makes straight sixes a rarity but ones square of the wicket more common. The western public and members grandstands and the famous scoreboard are all items listed on the City of Adelaide Heritage Register, and two news stands finished in 2003 have raised the capacity to 34,000 (for football) and 32,000 for cricket.
Extract From - http://content.cricinfo.com/australia/content/ground/56293.html
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