The white picket fence and the silvery light towers, the history and halo, the Great Southern Stand sprawling like a curled whale and the vast, green outfield stolen from a Paul Gaugin canvas. The Melbourne Cricket Ground — the MCG, or simply the ‘G’— both daunts and marvels like few other cricketing arenas in the world. Even before one finishes uttering the abbreviation, the images gush, the mind composes a quick reel of iconic moments from memory.
However, the same rings true for all stadiums in Australia. Every major cricketing venue in the country has a soul of its own, a distinguishable colour and character that captures the consciousness of the bleary-eyed television audience watching half a world away. Australia was once a collection of six states, all with their own virtues and flaws. The stadiums are an inevitable reflection of it, offering a window into a city’s sensibilities. It could be true for every stadium in the world, but those in Australia breathe a stronger identity and character, an essence that remains intact despite the passing of time and the inevitable quest to keep up with the times.
A view of the Sydney Cricket Ground. (File)
The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) gleams as the ideal specimen. In architecture, it has an edge over the MCG and other stadiums. The stately structure — that predates the Harbour Bridge and Opera House — has forged a modern identity as the home of the Pink Test in support of the McGrath Foundation.
But the past lingers. The floodlights — six straight-backed pylons that loom over the stadium — hit one first. Then the clock above the Members’ Stand. Then the bottle green slanting roofs of the pavilions. Sydney sunsets are as specular as those in Adelaide.
The Members’ and Ladies’ stands are fragile yet charming structures that have withstood the ravages of time and expansion. Both are heritage buildings, listed among war memorials and churches. Time has razed the two mounds -The Hill and Paddington Hill – that were instantly identifiable with the ground. But the SCG has put its meticulous shift to preserve history. The bronze statue of Yabba —its most famous spectator — has been reinstated. It represents the city, which has artfully fused the modern and the traditional. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and the SCG.
Modern & traditional
At the other end of the spectrum is the Optus Stadium in Perth, more state-of-the-art and expansive, but less romantic than the fiery old WACA across the bridge over the Swan river. It’s a modernistic sporting spaceship in aesthetics, a striking identity yet to be forged. Perhaps, that is its identity – a homogenised concrete behemoth.
Perth had to build grandness, whereas Adelaide had to just harness its natural splendour. Twilights at the Adelaide Oval are ethereal. The sky is a blood-orange spread, billowing like infernal fire. Momentarily, the gaze of the audience, the cameramen and scribes shift skywards. Those of the batsmen too, maybe, as wickets tumble in a heap. It could be the whims of the pink ball, or the trick the blend of natural and artificial light plays on the batsmen, or batsmen swayed by nature’s irresistible splendour.
Virat Kohli at the Adelaide Oval. (Cricket Australia)
The sun-lit afternoons are equally beatific. The light seems brighter, the colours more vivid and vibrant. The grand old scoreboard, raised in 1911, breathes majestically like a sentinel of time. There is a modern digital flat-screen staring beside it, in a space of its own, not meddling with its grandfatherly version. That is the striking identity of the Adelaide Oval — frictionless communion of the past and the present.
Refurbishing endeavours compromised some of the stadium’s idyllic charms. The glossy grandstand with its bulbous roofs hides the St Paul’s Cathedral. All but two pointed spires are visible from certain vantage points. The stands have eclipsed the views of the parkland around its leafy environs or a distant shot of the main road. But the intrusion of indispensable modernity has not killed the original identity of the arena. It’s still magnificent, like the city itself.
Working-class venue
A city unravels itself through its stadium. The Gabba, perched in the midst of a motorway in the industrial wastelands, is an extension of a hot, humid and practical city. It is not as iconic as the SCG or the MCG, or blessed with nature’s bounty, like Adelaide. But its mere mention evokes a sense of dread, a feeling accentuated by the steep, intimidating stands, lifeless grey concrete buildings with long balconies and hollow windows next to doors, an end that sounds like it was named after a mafia boss (Stanley Street End) and another where he dumps his slain enemies (Vulture Street End). The portmanteau of Gabba and abattoir — Gabbatoir — was apt.
Ground staff place covers over the pitch as rain suspends play on day five of the third cricket test between India and Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia. (AP)
Before the revamp, a greyhound track encircled the arena. For several years, the venue hosted the inaugural Test of the Australian summer because of the weather conditions – sky-shredding electrical storms that would hit the northernmost of Australia’s Test venues towards the end of the season. The blinding floodlight towers, that cast long shadows, were badly stung a few times. The unique feature now is the confetti of blue, gold and maroon seating, designed to conjure an illusion that the stands are packed.
The decks too are different. The surface offers pace, bounce and movement. Before the stands sprung, the grass banks and Moreton Bay fig trees offered a refuge from the sweltering heat.
“I just loved the wind here. It (bowling with the wind on the back), made me feel extra quick,” the legendary Jeff Thomson would dwell on the ground where he often let it rip. But the cricket stadium could soon turn into a memory, as it would be revamped for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. When and whether it would host a cricket game after the Ashes next year is uncertain. A new sporting complex would spring, but expect it to capture the spirit of the city as every cricketing citadel in the country does.
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I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
