Farewell to the WACA.

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Wolfs

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I remember India and South Africa winning at the WACA. I do also remember Gilchrist's century and Hoggard's wide. I also remember Chris Gayle going Ham
 
May 5, 2016
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At a guess the WACA would be australia’s least successful ground over the last 25 years

2 losses to the West Indies
3 to SA
1 to India
3 draws with NZ

Probably shows how good they’ve been in general at home if that’s their record at their ‘bogey’ ground.
 

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Oct 7, 2007
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I was there for Walter's century in a session. Ground was packed to gunnels that day.

I was there for the first day nighter at the WACA, against England. Stinking hot day and they closed the Dennis Lillee stand (before they built the real one, the pub on the Causeway side had that moniker) because a girl got pissed, climbed up a tree and dropped her top. Of course the guys chanting had a bit to do with that.

I was there for the match against the Rest of World and watched my Kiwi mate sledging Bruce Francis... comprehensively too. I missed Lillee's 8/29 the next day because I was in bed with sunstroke but was listening on the trans.

I watched numerous tests, one dayers and Shield games. Even had a bowl on the wicket during a coaching clinic.

I have many fond memories of the WACA even though the facilities were less than ideal.
 

Outshined

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Haven't got as many years under my belt as some of our more "seasoned" members, but my fondest memory is Langer's hundred against Pakistan in 2004. Sami and Akhtar ran through us (5/70ish from memory) before Gilly and JL steered us to safety. Awesome day.

Also got to witness a phenomenal Damien Martyn hundred for WA against Victoria. Man could he bat. Also happened to be the debut game some bloke from country Vic called Peter Siddle.

I'll miss the grass bank...It's been worth the inevitable skin cancer later in life from numerous days spent baking in 40 degree heat.
 
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Was there for an australia vs South africa ODI in 1994. Got there late after junior cricket that morning and the place was packed. Tim Zoehrer was a late in as Healy was injured the day before. Had to watch from the steps of the old scoreboard and from that vantage point saw a bloke fingering his mrs near the trinity school fence. So perth.
 

Hellgood

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Haven't got as many years under my belt as some of our more "seasoned" members, but my fondest memory is Langer's hundred against Pakistan in 2004. Sami and Akhtar ran through us (5/70ish from memory) before Gilly and JL steered us to safety. Awesome day.

Also got to witness a phenomenal Damien Martyn hundred for WA against Victoria. Man could he bat. Also happened to be the debut game some bloke from country Vic called Peter Siddle.

I'll miss the grass bank...It's been worth the inevitable skin cancer later in life from numerous days spent baking in 40 degree heat.

Ponting and Langer reckon that first day was just about the quickest bowling they have ever faced.
 

JimDocker

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The first test match that I saw there was 78/79 v England. Weakened Aussie side because of WSC. Gower scored a glorious century while Boycott plodded his way to 77 in over a day. I have seen at least one day of most test matches since, with the exception being some England matches when tickets go too quickly and the Zimbabwe test. Seen multiple days of quite a few. I saw plenty of ODI's too early on but only 1 in the last 15 years.

I saw

The aluminium bat incident
Lillee/Miandad incident
Tendulkar's hundred on his first tour
I was there the day before Alderman got injured by the English fan and was questioned by the police the following week in Perth. Not a good time to wear Doc Martens.
Michael Holding's brilliant catch when he ran about 40 metres.

I saw Holding, Roberts, Garner, Marshall, Lillee, Thompson, Hadlee, Botham, Imran, Kapil Dev, Ambrose, Walsh, Boycott, Gower, Greg Chappell, Kim Hughes, Ponting, Gilchrist, Lara Tendulkar, Miandad, Border, Warne, S Waugh, M Waugh, Warner, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee...
So basically, honoured to have seen every great cricketer since the 1970s play at some stage.

I have one more season of BBL watching the Scorchers, then will be relieved to get to then new stadium. The WACA has given me plenty of great entertainment over the years, but it is a dump.

Going to the new stadium tonight for Scorchers v English Lions. Excited to have a look around.
 
May 5, 2006
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Non-cricket memories of the WACA:

- West Coast beating Collingwood by 2 points in the QF in 1994 after Mick McGuane dropped a chest mark inside 50, then winning through to the GF against Melbourne 2 weeks later
- Peter Sumich kicking 13 against Footscray, Scott Cummings kicking 14 against Adelaide
- Guy McKenna calling a headcount against St Kilda
- The ridiculous game against Footscray in 1998 where they kicked 8.4 to 0.4 in the first quarter then we kicked 8.2 to 0.1 in the second and ended up winning 113-100
- Losing to an average Hawthorn team in 1999 then thinking poaching Ken Judge was a good idea

- Not so much a specific memory but Freo's rubbish mid 90s side having an uncanny knack of beating good teams there. 9-3 record 1995-1998, with Andrew Wills head shimmering in the moonlight as he kicked arsey goals from the pocket

- 1998/99 NSL EF2 and SF. 25k and 27.5k to NSL games, almost unheard of. Temporary stands packed to the rafters, the centre wicket still rock hard from cricket season, late goals to beat Adelaide City, Bernd Stange kissing the policewoman. Fun times

I used to enjoy going to the WACA a couple of times a year to watch footy. Mid 90s Perth was even more backwards than it is now, so footy at night was a novelty. Used to park over in Vic Park then walk over the causeway to the ground. The giant concrete light towers give the WACA surface a distinctive lime green glow. I accidentally flicked over to Fox League the other night ad they had an old game from the 90s and straight away I could tell it was the WACA just from the colour. Weird. Our seats were at ground level, so I'm glad there was the novelty value of a couple of games a year as a kid because I could see about 2/5 of FA of the game.
 

JimDocker

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Probably my favourite day of test match cricket at the WACA was the Ashes in 98.

I missed day one while at my brother's wedding. England all out for 112 and the Aussies were ahead at 3 for 150 by the end of the first day.
The second day saw the Aussies play carefully for the first session with the Waughs batting steadily, then Tudor and Gough blasted them out for 240.
England back in and into more trouble. At 5 for 67 when Hick went crazy, scoring 68 from 73 deliveries. 8x4s and 2x6s. A glimpse of his immense talent that was never realized. England were 5 for 126 at the end of the day. Australia blasted them out for 191 on the third day, then lost 3 wickets chasing 64. Damien Fleming bowled beautifully in this game. 5 for 46 and 4 for 45.

My favourite one dayer was Australia v West Indies 1981.

G Chappell was booed to the crease and in the middle of a run of failures. The West Aussie crowd wanted Kim Hughes to replace him as Aussie captain. He got a bouncer from Holding straight at his throat first ball and gloved it to Haynes at slip. One can't imagine the cheer from an Aussie crowd when the Aussie captain got a golden duck ! The Aussies struggled to 9 for 188 with Graeme Wood and Lillee the reason they got that many. The Windies lost 2 quick wickets then Richards and Lloyd smashed them and reached the target in 30 overs. (Holding's catch was in this match too). It was the most people I have ever seen at the WACA. People were climbing the fence and there were people up trees trying to get a vantage point.

My favourite T20 was The Scorchers winning the final last year :)

My favourite personal moment was my son being part of the national anthem ceremony v New Zealand a couple of years ago. Got a memento from Hazelwood, then was able to watch Warner score a great hundred at his first day of test cricket.
 
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JimDocker

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Non-cricket memories of the WACA:

- West Coast beating Collingwood by 2 points in the QF in 1994 after Mick McGuane dropped a chest mark inside 50, then winning through to the GF against Melbourne 2 weeks later
- Peter Sumich kicking 13 against Footscray, Scott Cummings kicking 14 against Adelaide
- Guy McKenna calling a headcount against St Kilda
- The ridiculous game against Footscray in 1998 where they kicked 8.4 to 0.4 in the first quarter then we kicked 8.2 to 0.1 in the second and ended up winning 113-100
- Losing to an average Hawthorn team in 1999 then thinking poaching Ken Judge was a good idea

- Not so much a specific memory but Freo's rubbish mid 90s side having an uncanny knack of beating good teams there. 9-3 record 1995-1998, with Andrew Wills head shimmering in the moonlight as he kicked arsey goals from the pocket

- 1998/99 NSL EF2 and SF. 25k and 27.5k to NSL games, almost unheard of. Temporary stands packed to the rafters, the centre wicket still rock hard from cricket season, late goals to beat Adelaide City, Bernd Stange kissing the policewoman. Fun times

I used to enjoy going to the WACA a couple of times a year to watch footy. Mid 90s Perth was even more backwards than it is now, so footy at night was a novelty. Used to park over in Vic Park then walk over the causeway to the ground. The giant concrete light towers give the WACA surface a distinctive lime green glow. I accidentally flicked over to Fox League the other night ad they had an old game from the 90s and straight away I could tell it was the WACA just from the colour. Weird. Our seats were at ground level, so I'm glad there was the novelty value of a couple of games a year as a kid because I could see about 2/5 of FA of the game.

I was at the head count game.
 

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010203

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South Africa is the only country Australia hasn't beaten in a test at the WACA. One draw in 2005 followed by wins for South Africa in 2008, 2012 and 2016.
 
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DaRick

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Probably my favourite Perth Tests are the ones in which we regained the Ashes (2006/07 and 2013/14, the former of which I saw live) and the 2004/05 one, where Justin Langer scored his epic 191 when the rest of the top-order fell like flies. I remember being in a downcast mood before Gilchrist got to the crease though!

Overall, my memories are a bit bittersweet though because SA beat us there several times, plus there was that batathon with NZ. Still, fare thee well, WACA.
 

JimDocker

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The 1986/87 season was also a favourite of mine at the WACA.

England had the better of a draw in the test match. Chris Broad scored a massive century, Gower and Jack Richards got centuries and Bill Athey got 96. Border got a hundred in reply and a young Steve Waugh was very good too. Scored 71 and occupied the crease for a while. I attended every day of this test match and had a ball. There was a group of travelling English supporters that had T shirts made and sang all day. They were pre Barmy Army days but the first time there had been that kind of atmosphere at a cricket match that I could recall.

Hard to believe how dominant Broad was in this season, averaged 69 for the series with 3 hundreds yet he ended up with a test average of 39.54 after 25 tests.

The same season, England won the Benson and Hedges Challenge. A one day series between Australia, England, Pakistan and the West Indies. It was part of the Americas Cup festival of sport. England had won the Ashes by winning the Boxing Day test by an innings, so the English supporters had T shirts made up " Forget the Americas Cup, we won the Ashes" for sale outside the ground .

3 very strong sides, plus Australia who were in a rebuilding phase and England won the series. I saw most of the games. Saw Miandad bat brilliantly, Greenidge score a hundred, Dean Jones score a hundred v England, then back it up with a hundred v Pakistan the next day and Botham hit Simon Davis for 26 runs in an over.

For the record, England also won the one day triangular series that tour. They beat Australia in the final after the Windies failed to get there. They never played in Perth in the tri series.

This season set up England and us fans to be super confident about smashing the Aussies in 1989 when "the worst Australian team ever" toured England :(
 

JimDocker

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Was there when Tudor got crunched by Lee - still remember the sound to this day. Also was there when Warne was dismissed for 99. Not a big fan of the stadium - nor the benign pitch it has tragically become - but some great memories there.

I was there day 2 of that test. Got to see some very good Australian batting. Really quick run rate from the middle and lower order. Lee was terrifying in that game. Should have won man of the match too, but Martyn got the home town decision.
 

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