Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) - Discussion

[hitthepost]

The MCC should supply their tradesmen an up to date set of tools, not even high tech but it appears the MCC have dropped the ball, need to update pitch tech.

As I have now said three times since Boxing Day, they are doing this at the end of this summer. Belated but it's happening. Cricinfo article above.

 

[Kwality]

See the MCC are after taxpayer dollars. Should talk to Govt operative that pulled the strings to do the deal over the Grand Final.

Dan is in the mood:
"Perth want the (AFL) grand final and we have made sure that is not happening until 2057. The Boxing Day Test, outside of Melbourne, really, c'mon. That can't be serious, surely," he said.
www.newslocker.com/en-au/sport/sport-news-australia/wa-are-try-hards-when-it-comes-to-poaching-boxing-day-test-andrews/view/

How to get the ICC in his pocket?

 

[Roogal]

Overall crowd for Boxing Day Test series was 176,539 at the
MCG
, including 13,197 to watch 28 balls on day 5.

Other test stats:

• Perth Test: 81,104
• Adelaide Test: 112,868

 

[Roogal]

See the MCC are after taxpayer dollars. Should talk to Govt operative that pulled the strings to do the deal over the Grand Final.

Dan is in the mood:
"Perth want the (AFL) grand final and we have made sure that is not happening until 2057. The Boxing Day Test, outside of Melbourne, really, c'mon. That can't be serious, surely," he said.
www.newslocker.com/en-au/sport/sport-news-australia/wa-are-try-hards-when-it-comes-to-poaching-boxing-day-test-andrews/view/

How to get the ICC in his pocket?

I'm sure that the point has been made by many others so I suppose that Iam repeating by making the point that Optus Stadium holds 60,000 while the Adelaide Oval holds 55,000. The AFL made the point to the government back in the early 2000s that they would accept nothing less than a 75,000 capacity at the MCG for staging its GF which was why the redevelopment was staged with parts while the old stands were incrementally demolished and new stands built simultaneously allowing for nothing more than a 25,000 gap in its capacity. This was to stop the AFL from temporarily shifting the GF to Sydney. Back in 1991 for the GF when the GSS was being built at tye MCG the then VFL had the old 80,000 capacity VFL Park as a back up and they shifted the major games and the GF.

Unless Perth or Adeliade have plans to rebuild or expand their grounds to at least 80,000 then the AFL won't consider any alternative to the MCG. Forget blaming Premier Daniel Andrews motives for locking the GF at the MCG for 40 years as a tactic to lock out other states, I suspect more that it was a pre-emptive strike at the AFL who have NEVER had a comfortable relationship with the MCC and it was more designed to stop the AFL from going down the road of demolishing Marvel Stadium and building an alternative all weather venue on the site of the Docklands.

 

[Kwality]

I'm sure that the point has been made by many others so I suppose that Iam repeating by making the point that Optus Stadium holds 60,000 while the Adelaide Oval holds 55,000. The AFL made the point to the government back in the early 2000s that they would accept nothing less than a 75,000 capacity at the MCG for staging its GF which was why the redevelopment was staged with parts while the old stands were incrementally demolished and new stands built simultaneously allowing for nothing more than a 25,000 gap in its capacity. This was to stop the AFL from temporarily shifting the GF to Sydney. Back in 1991 for the GF when the GSS was being built at tye MCG the then VFL had the old 80,000 capacity VFL Park as a back up and they shifted the major games and the GF.

Unless Perth or Adeliade have plans to rebuild or expand their grounds to at least 80,000 then the AFL won't consider any alternative to the MCG. Forget blaming Premier Daniel Andrews motives for locking the GF at the MCG for 40 years as a tactic to lock out other states, I suspect more that it was a pre-emptive strike at the AFL who have NEVER had a comfortable relationship with the MCC and it was more designed to stop the AFL from going down the road of demolishing Marvel Stadium and building an alternative all weather venue on the site of the Docklands.

I am aware of the history, Dan got his way but the losers are the footy fans that live outside Melbourne (not me). The winners are the Vic economy & the MCC.

That the deal was stitched up behind closed doors says it all. Are you across what the Vic Govt did for the MCC ($s or kind), ie what it will cost to entice CA to sign on the dotted line. Personally I'm for keeping the game at the MCG.

 

[Roogal]

I am aware of the history, Dan got his way but the losers are the footy fans that live outside Melbourne (not me). The winners are the Vic economy & the MCC.

That the deal was stitched up behind closed doors says it all. Are you across what the AFL Govt did for the MCC ($s or kind), ie what it will cost to entice CA to sign on the dotted line. Personally I'm for keeping the game at the MCG.

Yes I am very aware of the political machinations, and that the ALP have a long history associated with keeping major events at the MCG. The 1956 Olympic Games were only staged at the MCG after some serious State Government intervention from Premier John Cain (Snr) between squabbling games organisers. Almost 30 years later the installation of lighting towers in 1984 was a pre-emptive move to keep the major football games and night cricket at the MCG and to prevent the VFL from further developing VFL Park under the direction of the then Premier (John cain (Jnr) ... yes the son). Again it was Steve Bracks who underwrote the full rebuild for the 2006 Comm Games.

 

[Kwality]

Yes I am very aware of the political machinations, and that the ALP have a long history associated with keeping major events at the MCG. The 1956 Olympic Games were only staged at the MCG after some serious State Government intervention from Premier John Cain (Snr) between squabbling games organisers. Almost 30 years later the installation of lighting towers in 1984 was a pre-emptive move to keep the major football games and night cricket at the MCG and to prevent the VFL from further developing VFL Park under the direction of the then Premier (John cain (Jnr) ... yes the son). Again it was Steve Bracks who underwrote the full rebuild for the 2006 Comm Games.

Yep, thats the history.
As an aside where would the MCC be without footy? The loser there is the Melbourne Football Club.

Bracksy is now on the Trust that controls Kardinya Park - I'd swear it was the footy club /Mr Cook.

 

[JohnZ]

Yep, thats the history.
As an aside where would the MCC be without footy? The loser there is the Melbourne Football Club.

Bracksy is now on the Trust that controls Kardinya Park - I'd swear it was the footy club /Mr Cook.

*Kardinia

 

[hitthepost]

*Kardinia

Kardinya goes with Norf

 

[blueboy25]

Overall crowd for Boxing Day Test series was 176,539 at the
MCG
, including 13,197 to watch 28 balls on day 5.

Other test stats:

• Perth Test: 81,104
• Adelaide Test: 112,868

As a WA person, I don't think the boxing day test should be moved from the MCG but when you throw stats around like the ones above, people mainly Victorians forget that your test includes a public holiday and is in the peak period of when people are off work.

 

[Roogal]

As a WA person, I don't think the boxing day test should be moved from the MCG but when you throw stats around like the ones above, people mainly Victorians forget that your test includes a public holiday and is in the peak period of when people are off work.

Remember that only one day of the test is a public holiday, while the intention of the post wasn't to highlight crowd differences in a mocking sense. In truth the MCG has hosted much bigger test crowds over the five days in the past. While test cricket attendances in Australia have been hot and cold since the 90s depending on the form of our team or the strength of our opponent, the test numbers have generally remained constant. The exception being Adelaide and its day night games in 2016 and 2017. If it comes down to raw numbers then Adelaide may indeed mount a better case than Perth for hosting a test just after Christmas. Adelaide's attendances in the last two test seasons for its twilight tests were phenomenal.

Of course it is always England that brings out the largest attendances for Melbourne and no doubt other host cities over the five days. Melbourne's recent stats for England are:

• 2017 - 261,335
• 2013 - 271,865
• 2010 - 240,156
• 2006 - 244,351

Interestingly India and South Africa are the only two teams to come close to 200,000 over the five days in Melbourne. Of course we will likely never see the figures like the 1936-37 Melbourne test which had 350,534 over six days (against England). In consideration that Perth's new stadium can hold 60,000 it would conceivably be large enough to accommodate a modern day Melbourne cricket crowd because no test series in Melbourne since 1960-61 has ever exceeded 300,000 over the five days. The same might be said for the 55,000 capacity Adelaide Oval which has a five day potential of 275,000.

The important lesson is that if you don't support the tests you can lose them as happened with Brisbane which has in recent years produced poor crowds and drawn tests often shortened by its daily summer storms.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Remember that only one day of the test is a public holiday, while the intention of the post wasn't to highlight crowd differences in a mocking sense. In truth the MCG has hosted much bigger test crowds over the five days in the past. While test cricket attendances in Australia have been hot and cold since the 90s depending on the form of our team or the strength of our opponent, the test numbers have generally remained constant. The exception being Adelaide and its day night games in 2016 and 2017. If it comes down to raw numbers then Adelaide may indeed mount a better case than Perth for hosting a test just after Christmas. Adelaide's attendances in the last two test seasons for its twilight tests were phenomenal.

Of course it is always England that brings out the largest attendances for Melbourne and no doubt other host cities over the five days. Melbourne's recent stats for England are:

• 2017 - 261,335
• 2013 - 271,865
• 2010 - 240,156
• 2006 - 244,351

Interestingly India and South Africa are the only two teams to come close to 200,000 over the five days in Melbourne. Of course we will likely never see the figures like the 1936-37 Melbourne test which had 350,534 over six days (against England). In consideration that Perth's new stadium can hold 60,000 it would conceivably be large enough to accommodate a modern day Melbourne cricket crowd because no test series in Melbourne since 1960-61 has ever exceeded 300,000 over the five days. The same might be said for the 55,000 capacity Adelaide Oval which has a five day potential of 275,000.

The important lesson is that if you don't support the tests you can lose them as happened with Brisbane which has in recent years produced poor crowds and drawn tests often shortened by its daily summer storms.

Why in gods name would England declare at 9/76, down by 130 runs in a timeless test?

 

[Dirty Bird]

What I don’t actually like about the current test setup is that the 2 last (Melbourne Sydney) are in effect dead rubbers (especially Sydney)

What I’d like to see I say perhaps 2 3 game series
Series 1 (say vs New Zealand)
Game 1 - Last week of nov - gabba
Game 2 - 2nd week of dec - Perth/bellrieve/canberra
Game 3 - Boxing Day - mcg

Series 2 (say Pakistan)
Game 1 - New Years - sydney
Game 2 - about 10th-15th start - Perth/bellrieve/canberra
Game 3 - Australia Day - adelaide

Or perhaps schedule gabba dec 1 then test 2 dec 15th
And make gabba an old time “timeless test”
Play it for 2 weeks if need be

Gabba can be known for timeless
Adelaide oval for day/night
Mcg for boxing day
Scg for new years

 

[Teen Wolf]

Why in gods name would England declare at 9/76, down by 130 runs in a timeless test?

Sticky wicket. Wasn't the last, nor even a particularly extreme, declaration back in the day of uncovered pitches of that kind.

Melbourne '37 was when Bradman did the old (or I guess contemporary at the time) reverse-batting-order, hence his 270 in the second innings at number 7. Could do worse than here to start reading about it.

 

[nobbyiscool]

As a WA person, I don't think the boxing day test should be moved from the MCG but when you throw stats around like the ones above, people mainly Victorians forget that your test includes a public holiday and is in the peak period of when people are off work.

On the flipside of that, the MCG test is when a lot of people are away from home and/or have family stuff on, and this year we lost one of our weekend days with the test essentially over by the time we got to Sunday.

 

[nobbyiscool]

What I don’t actually like about the current test setup is that the 2 last (Melbourne Sydney) are in effect dead rubbers (especially Sydney)

What I’d like to see I say perhaps 2 3 game series
Series 1 (say vs New Zealand)
Game 1 - Last week of nov - gabba
Game 2 - 2nd week of dec - Perth/bellrieve/canberra
Game 3 - Boxing Day - mcg

Series 2 (say Pakistan)
Game 1 - New Years - sydney
Game 2 - about 10th-15th start - Perth/bellrieve/canberra
Game 3 - Australia Day - adelaide

Or perhaps schedule gabba dec 1 then test 2 dec 15th
And make gabba an old time “timeless test”
Play it for 2 weeks if need be

Gabba can be known for timeless
Adelaide oval for day/night
Mcg for boxing day
Scg for new years

I like this in theory - the problem though is that you're locking in the problem we created for ourselves this year, where pretty much the entirety of the test series and BBL overlap, so you don't have any Shield form on which to base selection. They're not about the move the BBL to another time of the year despite the overwhelming evidence that it's hurting the test team.

 

[blueboy25]

On the flipside of that, the MCG test is when a lot of people are away from home and/or have family stuff on, and this year we lost one of our weekend days with the test essentially over by the time we got to Sunday.

Which means you also get an influx of interstate and overseas punters heading to the test as it is in the festive holiday period.

 

[nobbyiscool]

Which means you also get an influx of interstate and overseas punters heading to the test as it is in the festive holiday period.

There ain't as many people visiting Melbourne from the beach as there are people from the beach coming to Melbourne, especially when days 2 & 3 were really hot. Nor do I think many of the people who come from interstate to see their families for Christmas are going to the cricket (though no doubt some would.)

It's a semantic argument anyway - my point was just that it would be wrong for anyone to assume that every factor is in Melbourne's favour when it comes to attendance, there's a lot of swings and roundabouts. I don't think Boxing Day would have as much of an attendance advantage as Australia Day would.

 

[Redline]

I am in Melbourne for the tennis but went along on a MCG tour today. The guide was great and we had good access to changerooms, Oval and some of the more exclusive members areas.

 

[Kwality]

There ain't as many people visiting Melbourne from the beach as there are people from the beach coming to Melbourne, especially when days 2 & 3 were really hot. Nor do I think many of the people who come from interstate to see their families for Christmas are going to the cricket (though no doubt some would.)

It's a semantic argument anyway - my point was just that it would be wrong for anyone to assume that every factor is in Melbourne's favour when it comes to attendance, there's a lot of swings and roundabouts. I don't think Boxing Day would have as much of an attendance advantage as Australia Day would.

Boxing Day is the day to attend the cricket is a part of life for a very small percentage of Victorians (100,000 odd most years, bit like going to the Cup or Oaks Day, the tennis or the GP) - pulls an events crowd, biggest in Aus for most sports.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Boxing Day is the day to attend the cricket is a part of life for a very small percentage of Victorians (100,000 odd most years, bit like going to the Cup or Oaks Day, the tennis or the GP) - pulls an events crowd, biggest in Aus for most sports.

Melbourne's population is now about 4.8m. So a max 1 in about 70 to 80 Melbournians turn up on Boxing Day. Got no idea what sort of numbers travel from country Victoria and interstate or overseas other than when we play England.

Boxing Day crowds are between 60,000 and 75,000 when the poms aren't playing. When the poms are, for most of this century, there are about 20,000 travelling Barmy Army supporters and general travelling English cricket fans who attend and they also turn up on day 2 and usually day 3 unlike the locals who drop off by 20,000-30,000. Many English tend to come out for just the Melbourne and Sydney tests double for their normal annual leave, and its only the hard core Barmy Army who travel for the earlier tests.

Weather and play being finished by late day 3 or early day 4 affects total crowds but the game isn't over at the end of day 1 to turn people off from rocking up on day 2. Boxing Day is now an event day.

A Boxing Day test at any venue would see near capacity crowds as its a public holiday, people have the day off, and any one of the 4 other major venues would market the s**t out of the test to make sure people turn up.

The Barmy Army started in small numbers in the 1994-95 series. Boxing Day 1994 crowd was 51,620 and total crowd was 144,492. Next series Boxing Day 1998 crowd was 61,580 and total crowd was 159,031. Plus they won back the Ashes in 2005 so they started travelling in larger numbers after that.

 

[its been done]

Looks like having the Junction Oval as the 2nd first class venue in the state is paying off for the MCG with the Eminem concert tonight setting a new record for the most tickets sold for a single concert at the ground (80,708), beating the old record of 80,518 set by Sound Relief in 2009

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entert...k=01e5f4bf2b4569ad42c5c4d36d3ed0c9-1551009201

For those who are blocked by the paywall, here's the article below

Spoiler: Article

Not only is rapper Eminem the first hip hop artist to headline a concert at the MCG, he has also set the record for the most tickets sold at the venue for a single show.
Eminem sold a remarkable 80,708 tickets for his Melbourne concert on Sunday night.
That beat the venue record set by the Sound Relief charity concert a decade ago, which featured Midnight Oil, Split Enz, Kings of Leon, Kylie Minogue and Paul Kelly, and sold 80,518 tickets.
“This is the most people I’ve ever seen in one place in my f — ing life,” he said on stage.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of Eminem releasing his breakthrough album The Slim Shady LP.
And his increasing popularity isn’t rocket science: he’s kept many of the fans he instantly converted with his first hit My Name Is (now also 20 years old) and they’ve passed Eminem’s music onto their kids.
Once they were old enough to deal with the language and themes of anger and humour — that is.

Eminem on stage at the MCG on Sunday night. Photo Credit: Jeremy Deputat
Although there were plenty of pre-teen kids at the MCG last night who heard non-stop profanities during and between songs — but none they wouldn’t have already heard on his records if their parents have deemed them appropriate listening.
“The Slim Shady LP is 20 years old, that means that (alter ego) Slim Shady is 20 years old which is I get to act like a f — g a—hole,” the rapper said before early manifesto Just Don’t Give a F—-, which remains his life motto.
The bearded rapper, now 46, tailors his set for everyone. What you lose in him completing most songs (which are truncated into bite-size medleys) you gain in him trying to cover as many hits from as many albums as possible. And the mixtape approach to songs flowing into each other keeps the energy high.

Eminem at his Melbourne concert at the MCG. Picture: Jeremy Deputa
As well as huge production and a full live band, seeing an Eminem concert means witnessing him doing that rapid fire vocal flow in person — like on Rap God and Lucky You- and watching his fans try to keep up with him.
There’s also singer Skylar Grey subbing in Rihanna and Dido and his offsider Mr Porter.
But it’s all about 20 years of anthems — Stan, Love The Way You Lie, Kill You, White America, Sing For The Moment, Like Toy Soldiers, Without Me, The Real Slim Shady, River, Not Afraid and obvious closer Lose Yourself — filling the biggest venue in town.
Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, played to over 50,000 fans at the stadium formerly known as Etihad in both 2011 and 2014, but he has never toured Australia on a scale as big as on this tour.
He’s already played to 40,000 fans in Brisbane, 70,000 in Sydney before the tour ends in Perth with another stadium show on Wednesday.

Eminem at a recent concert in Brisbane. Picture: Jeremy Deputa


Eminem has set the bar very high very early for Australian ticket sales in 2019.
Adelaide’s Hilltop Hoods are the ideal opening act for Eminem, with the MCG being their biggest venue to date.
They also rightly point out how an Eminem concert is the only place you can wear a hockey mask and no one bats an eyelid.
The ‘Hoods are also celebrating 20 years in the game, stretching back with The Nosebleed Section and to fresh bangers Clark Griswold and Leave Me Lonely — the trio are on track to score their sixth consecutive Australian No.1 album with new release The Great Expanse on next week’s ARIA chart.

 

[Kwality]

Do MCC members get free entry?

 

[brucetiki]

Looks like having the Junction Oval as the 2nd first class venue in the state is paying off for the MCG with the Eminem concert tonight setting a new record for the most tickets sold for a single concert at the ground (80,708), beating the old record of 80,518 set by Sound Relief in 2009

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entert...k=01e5f4bf2b4569ad42c5c4d36d3ed0c9-1551009201

For those who are blocked by the paywall, here's the article below

Spoiler: Article

Not only is rapper Eminem the first hip hop artist to headline a concert at the MCG, he has also set the record for the most tickets sold at the venue for a single show.
Eminem sold a remarkable 80,708 tickets for his Melbourne concert on Sunday night.
That beat the venue record set by the Sound Relief charity concert a decade ago, which featured Midnight Oil, Split Enz, Kings of Leon, Kylie Minogue and Paul Kelly, and sold 80,518 tickets.
“This is the most people I’ve ever seen in one place in my f — ing life,” he said on stage.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of Eminem releasing his breakthrough album The Slim Shady LP.
And his increasing popularity isn’t rocket science: he’s kept many of the fans he instantly converted with his first hit My Name Is (now also 20 years old) and they’ve passed Eminem’s music onto their kids.
Once they were old enough to deal with the language and themes of anger and humour — that is.

Eminem on stage at the MCG on Sunday night. Photo Credit: Jeremy Deputat
Although there were plenty of pre-teen kids at the MCG last night who heard non-stop profanities during and between songs — but none they wouldn’t have already heard on his records if their parents have deemed them appropriate listening.
“The Slim Shady LP is 20 years old, that means that (alter ego) Slim Shady is 20 years old which is I get to act like a f — g a—hole,” the rapper said before early manifesto Just Don’t Give a F—-, which remains his life motto.
The bearded rapper, now 46, tailors his set for everyone. What you lose in him completing most songs (which are truncated into bite-size medleys) you gain in him trying to cover as many hits from as many albums as possible. And the mixtape approach to songs flowing into each other keeps the energy high.

Eminem at his Melbourne concert at the MCG. Picture: Jeremy Deputa
As well as huge production and a full live band, seeing an Eminem concert means witnessing him doing that rapid fire vocal flow in person — like on Rap God and Lucky You- and watching his fans try to keep up with him.
There’s also singer Skylar Grey subbing in Rihanna and Dido and his offsider Mr Porter.
But it’s all about 20 years of anthems — Stan, Love The Way You Lie, Kill You, White America, Sing For The Moment, Like Toy Soldiers, Without Me, The Real Slim Shady, River, Not Afraid and obvious closer Lose Yourself — filling the biggest venue in town.
Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, played to over 50,000 fans at the stadium formerly known as Etihad in both 2011 and 2014, but he has never toured Australia on a scale as big as on this tour.
He’s already played to 40,000 fans in Brisbane, 70,000 in Sydney before the tour ends in Perth with another stadium show on Wednesday.

Eminem at a recent concert in Brisbane. Picture: Jeremy Deputa


Eminem has set the bar very high very early for Australian ticket sales in 2019.
Adelaide’s Hilltop Hoods are the ideal opening act for Eminem, with the MCG being their biggest venue to date.
They also rightly point out how an Eminem concert is the only place you can wear a hockey mask and no one bats an eyelid.
The ‘Hoods are also celebrating 20 years in the game, stretching back with The Nosebleed Section and to fresh bangers Clark Griswold and Leave Me Lonely — the trio are on track to score their sixth consecutive Australian No.1 album with new release The Great Expanse on next week’s ARIA chart.

I didn't even know he was touring

 

[Teagueeee15]

Do MCC members get free entry?

No, but could pay a subsidised price of around $45.