Sydney Cricket Ground
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The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a cricket stadium in Sydney. It is used for Test cricket, one-day international cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches, and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League. It is owned/operated by the SCG Trust that also manages Aussie Stadium located next door.
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History
In 1810, then-Governor Lachlan Macquarie designated the area that is now the SCG to be Hyde Park, a place which would include a racecourse, a park and a cricket ground, just outside of the city. As the amount of cricket activity began to grow, the New South Wales Cricket Association offered to the Government of New South Wales in 1875 to upgrade the cricket ground in Moore Park, and in 1876, the first SCG was dedicated by Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. The first game of cricket was not played there until 1877, in a game between the New South Wales Government Printing Office and the Audit Office.
The first official cricket game was played in 1879, in a first-class inter-colonial match between NSW and Victoria, which led to the first instance of an Australian Rules Football match to be played on the ground on 6 August, 1881 (over 100 years before the arrival of the Sydney Swans from Melbourne!) The SCG hosted its first Test cricket match beginning on 17 February, 1882, when Australia played England in the sixth ever Test match. Australia won the game by 5 wickets.
In 1886, the Members' Pavilion was rebuilt, and in 1894 the ground finally received its modern name, the Sydney Cricket Ground, which was followed by the opening of the Hill Stand (also known as the "Bob Stand") in 1895, followed by the Ladies' Stand in 1896. By 1903, the ground had gotten a lot larger: the Northern Stand was built, the Members' Pavilion extended, lighting was installed and a scoreboard installed.
The first instance of rugby league was played at the SCG in 22 June, 1910, when a first-grade match between Australia and New Zealand was played there. Further cricket and rugby league matches would be played at the ground, while more stands (the Sheridian and Noble, the latter replacing the Northern stand) were erected. In 1938, the British Empire Games (now known as the Commonwealth Games) were played at the SCG.
In 1951, the ground was brought under the trust of one umbrella organization along with the Sydney Sports Ground. Previously, the ground had been under its own board of trustees. The ground would continue to grow, as the Bradman Stand was completed in 1973. The new Trust also agreed to allow women to become members of the ground in 1974, a contemporary step. More improvements, including the installment of modern floodlights in 1978, the Brewongle Stand in 1980, and the installation of the first electronic video scoreboard 1983, the Pat Hill Stand (later renamed the O'Reilly Stand) in 1984, and the replacement of the Sheridan Stand with the new Clive Churchill Stand in 1986 completed the SCG as many see today.
The opening of the Sydney Football Stadium (now known as Aussie Stadium) in 1988 removed rugby league matches from the ground, which kept the headquarters of NSW Cricket while gaining the new tenant the AFL Sydney Swans from Melbourne in 1982. So far, the Swans have had great success in their new adopted Sydney home, with their greatest match coming in 1996 where the Swans made their first AFL Grand Final in 50 years at home. Thanks to a new LED scoreboard and a refurbishment of the playing surface in 2000, the Swans and NSW Cricket enjoy a top-of-the-line home stadium.
Stands
In its present configuration, the SCG is a playing field surrounded by a collection of separate grandstand structures. From the northern end, clockwise, they are:
- M. A. Noble Stand - Built 1936 - Members seating, also used for general public admission during events with low attendance.
- Bradman Stand - Built 1973 - Public reserved seating.
- Dally Messenger Stand - General admission.
- Bill O'Reilly Stand - Built 1984 - Corporate boxes and public reserved seating.
- Doug Walters Stand - General admission.
- Yabba's Hill - General admission.
- Clive Churchill Stand - Built 1986 - Corporate boxes and public reserved seating.
- Brewongle Stand - Built 1980 - Corporate boxes and public reserved seating.
- Ladies' Stand - Built 1896 - Members seating.
- Members' Stand - Built 1878 - Members seating.
Ground Activities
Cricket
(from Cricinfo)
Cricket has been played at the ground from as long ago as 1848, then known as the Garrison Ground, but many other sports 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 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, resulting in mammoth scores. The highest of these was compiled in 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.
Australian Rules Football
As mentioned before, the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League plays most of their home games at the ground. However, Australian Rules have been played at the ground long before the Swans' arrival, for in 1881 an intercolonial game between NSW and Victoria was played on the ground. The South Melbourne Swans also paid a visit to the ground in 1905 for a number of exhibition games, which was then followed by the arrival of the re-christened Sydney Swans nearly 80 years later in 1982.
While the first years of the Swans in their new home were not particularly fruitful years, the Swans have come to be accustomed to their new home, and the SCG has proven itself to be one of the most feared home grounds in all of the AFL: Since its dimensions are much cozier than other footy grounds like the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, AAMI Stadium in Adelaide or Subiaco Oval in Perth, the Swans have an advantage in this aspect, and have played this advantage to the fullest.
One of their greatest games was their 1996 preliminary final against Essendon, in a match that featured Swans great Tony Lockett's finest hour, as he booted a boatload of goals to send the Swans to their first Grand Final in 50 years.
While some major games (i.e. the annual "Big Game" against Collingwood) are played at Telstra Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park, the SCG is still the Swans' premier home ground.
Rugby League
The SCG bears a rich history in the game of rugby league, for many years it was the venue for most of the important league games held in Sydney. The largest crowd ever to fill the SCG was for the 1965 NSWRL Grand Final between Souths and St.George
Between 1913, when Easts def. Newtown in the first NSWRL match played there, and the 1987 Grand Final, the SCG played host to over 1000 Premiership matches and finals (more than any other ground). The best game of the round, the "Match of the Day", was transferred to the SCG for many seasons.
The unavailibilty of the ground, due to the uncertain length of the finals series, led to the NSWRL changing its final system in 1954 - from 1954 to 1987, all NSWRL Grand Finals were fought out at the SCG. In addition, it was the venue for many representative games - Test matches, interstate, and City v Country.
With the opening of the Sydney Football Stadium (currently known as Aussie Stadium) in 1988, the long history of major rugby league games at the SCG came to an end, the last Grand Final there saw Manly defeat Canberra in the 1987 decider. Finals and other important games are now shared between the SFS and Stadium Australia (currently known as Telstra Stadium)
However, in 1999 and since 2003, St. George-Illawarra and Souths have returned to the SCG for one game each year.
Rugby Union
Others
In January 2005, the SCG hosted WaveAid - a concert to raise money for the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami
Seating Capacity and Other Records
- Seating Capacity: 44,002
- Largest Cricket match attendance: 58,446 (Australia v England, 15/12/1928)
- Largest AFL match attendance: 46,168 (Sydney v Geelong, 30/8/1997)
- Largest rugby league match attendance: 78,056 (St George v South Sydney, 18/9/1965)
- Largest rugby union match attendance: 49,327 (NSW v New Zealand, 13/7/1907)
- Largest soccer match attendance: 51,566 (NSW v Everton, 2/5/1964)
- Largest concert attendance: 44,155 (Madonna, 19/11/1993)
See also
- History of Test cricket (to 1883)
- History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)
- History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)