The 1934 Lord's Test

Lore & Background

The MCG is built atop a Wurundjeri camping ground and site of numerous corroborees. Founded in November 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) selected the current MCG site in 1853 after previously playing at several grounds around Melbourne. The club's first game was against a military team at the Old Mint site, at the corner of William and La Trobe Streets. Burial Hill (now Flagstaff Gardens) became its home ground in January 1839, but the area was already set aside for Botanical Gardens and the club was moved on in October 1846, to an area on the south bank of the Yarra about where the Herald & Weekly Times building is today. The area was subject to flooding, forcing the club to move again, this time to a ground in South Melbourne. It was not long before the club was forced out again, this time because of the expansion of the railway. Governor La Trobe offered the MCC a choice of three sites; an area adjacent to the existing ground, a site at the junction of Flinders and Spring Streets or a ten-acre section of the Government Paddock at Richmond next to Richmond Park. An MCC sub-committee chose the Richmond Park option because it was level enough for cricket but sloped enough to prevent inundation. That ground was located where the Richmond, or outer, end of the current MCG is now.

Reader's Guide

The MCG is the host venue of the annual AFL Grand Final, the world's second-highest attended league championship event, and the annual Boxing Day Test match. The stadium has hosted two Cricket World Cup finals (1992 and 2015). It was the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies in the 1956 Summer Olympics, where it also hosted athletics and the finals for hockey and football. It also hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, along with athletics, during the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The stadium has also hosted matches during the State of Origin rugby league series, football in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the Bledisloe Cup. The MCG also hosted both the first Test match and the first One Day International, played between Australia and England in 1877 and 1971, respectively.

Did You Know?

• The MCG is the largest stadium in Australia, the eleventh-largest stadium globally, the second-largest cricket stadium by capacity and the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has undergone numerous renovations, with capacity now standing at approximately 95,000 seats plus 5,000 standing room, bringing total capacity to 100,024.
• The MCG is listed on both the Victorian Heritage Register and the Australian National Heritage List and is the home of the Australian Sports Museum.