Preparing for THE POMS
Ashes fever is back again; the Aussies are out for revenge; a world record attendance of 97,000 is expected on day one of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Test. How are they preparing Down Under for us whingeing Poms? Pitchcare’s John Richards went to find out.
NOTHING really prepares you for standing in the middle of Melbourne Cricket Ground. This world famous venue, generally referred to as the MCG, is immense, with a total grassed area of just over 2 hectares, 20,054 square metres to be precise. I was last here as a spectator five years ago watching Australia’s Socceroos take on Uruguay in a World Cup play off game. The full sized, international football pitch seemed out of place and marooned in the vast grassed expanse. The MCG is an oval, 172 metres long and 135 metres across, and designed to stage Aussie Rules Football and cricket. Five local AFL teams use the stadium and it is the host of their major Aussie Rules Grand Final.
My latest visit was at the end of November, at the same time as the much awaited first Ashes Test was taking place in Brisbane, and the Aussies were giving us a real good thumping, and exactly a
month before the Ashes roadshow hit Melbourne for the fourth Test. An MCG Test match, commencing Boxing Day, is a long standing tradition in the Australian cricketing calendar. My presence in the
centre of the arena, rather than in the stands, was courtesy of Richard Winter, Operations Manager at the MCG. Richard is relatively new to the stadium, only joining in May 2005, however he wasn’t lacking in first class cricket ground experience, as he explained, “Before coming to the MCG I spent seven years as Curator at the WACA in Perth and,
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