World Cup venues: Melbourne Cricket Ground, University Oval

Fourteen cities -- seven in Australia and seven in New Zealand – will host the event's 49 matches. Presenting a detailed look at the venues, two at a time...

February 01, 2015 01:26 am | Updated 01:26 am IST

13. MELBOURNE

The complete city: Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, is the second largest city in Australia. It is situated around Port Philip Bay and is caressed by the Yarra River.

 

The city, established in 1835, is consistently ranked among the world’s most liveable cities. It struck gold with the great Victorian Gold Rush of the 1850s, and became the world’s richest city in another three decades.

 

Melbourne’s riches are not just financial; the city is also known for its culture, sport, fashion and architecture. It has more than 450 music venues and hosts many reputed festivals of film and literature.

 

Melbourne is one of the world’s greatest sporting cities, with three major annual events: Australian Open, Melbourne Cup (horse racing) and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Cricket and Australian Rules Football are the most popular sports.

 

Standalone line: The world’s first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, was shot in Melbourne, in 1906.

 

Melbourne Cricket Ground 

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is one of the most iconic sporting venues in the world. Few grounds could claim to be as multi-functional as the MCG; fewer could claim as great a history.

 

Melbourne Cricket GroundCapacity: 100,000 Playing Area: 173.6m long, 148.3m wide Highest Total: 344/8 (ICC XI v Asia XI, 2005) Lowest Total: 94 (Eng v Aus, 1979) Highest Score: 173 (Mark Waugh) Best Bowling: 6/42 (Ajit Agarkar)

The MCG, built in 1853, has dominated the sporting history of a great sporting nation for over a century and a half. It hosted the 1956 Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 1992 cricket World Cup final. It was the venue for the first-ever Test, between Australia and England in 1887, and the first ODI, featuring the same sides, in 1971.

 

Sir Don Bradman scored nine hundreds and averaged 128.53 in the 11 Tests he played at the MCG. The ground also saw Sunil Gavaskar stage a walk-out, protesting an umpire’s decision (1981), Trevor Chappell bowling underarm in an ODI against New Zealand (1981), and umpire Darrell

Hair calling Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing the ball (1995).

 

The MCG will host the 2015 World Cup final on March 29.

14. DUNEDIN

 

Literature, wildlife, natural beauty...take your pick

Dunedin is the principal city of the Otago Region. Situated on the south-eastern coast of the South Island, it is a beautiful city of contrasting landscapes, with hills, valleys and a natural harbour.

 

It is known for its education and is home to New Zealand’s first university, Otago. Last year, UNESCO named it as the Creative City of Literature. It is also called the wildlife capital of New Zealand and is popular as an eco-tourism destination.

 

The Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin Botanic Gardens and Dunedin Chinese Garden are among the major attractions of the city.

 

Rugby, cricket, football, basketball, netball and ice hockey are keenly followed here.

 

Standalone line: Dunedin boasts the world’s steepest street, Baldwin Street.

 

University Oval

 

With its pastoral setting, the University Oval is a throwback to an earlier time, when cricketers’ clothes were all white, much like the ball used in the shorter formats of the game these days.

University OvalCapacity: 6,000 Playing Area: NA Highest Total: 360/5 (NZ v SL, 2015) Lowest Total: 158 (Zim v NZ, 2012) Highest Score: 170 n.o. (Luke Ronchi) Best Bowling: 4/19 (Rob Nicol)

But, one of cricket’s most modern inventions — the DRS — made its official debut here, with the 2009 Test against Pakistan. That remains the ground’s most memorable match, which New Zealand won by 32 runs, after taking five Pakistan wickets for 23 in the final session.

Cricket had been played on this ground, which used to belong to the University of Otago, for decades before it became New Zealand’s seventh, and Dunedin’s second, Test venue in 2008.

Four ODIs have been played here so far, with the host winning each one of them.

New Zealand will take on Scotland in a World Cup match on February 17. That would be appropriate as the city of Dunedin was founded by migrant Scotsmen in the mid-19th century. 

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.