A game of cricket cannot be played without a proper stadium. There are no international matches held on ‘maidans’ or playgrounds afterall. There are several factors that determine how excellent a stadium actually is. Whether in terms of lighting, crowd capacity, pitches, facilities, aerial view and so on. But there have been just a few which can be termed ‘excellent’ because any stadium can have a pitch or products such as a carpet to cover the pitch or a roller to remove the grass from it as well decent seating. Some of them though go much beyond the basics and have made a name for themselves in cricketing history. Here are those who have been able to do so.
It is owned and operated by the Western Australian Cricket Association. Fascinatingly, the WACA was built on an old swamp land yet it has been the home to many sports which include AFL, rugby and football, but it is the most popular as a cricket ground.
Better known as The Oval, this ground is one of the most breathtaking in England. As the name suggests, it resembles the ‘oval’ shape which is a rarity for a cricket ground which is frequently more circular in shape. It is this ground which has been a source of inspiration for the construction of other grounds across the world in a similar style of architecture, to make it look attractive.
Established in 1848, the Sydney Cricket Ground has a capacity of 46,000 making it have a huge seating capacity to make people watch cricket and cheer their respective teams irrespective of wherever they are seated on the ground.
It is situated in Moore Park in the east of Sydney. The Sydney Cricket Ground is not only one of the world’s most famous cricketing venues but also for Australian Rules football and some rugby league football played throughout the year. It is owned and operated by the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust, a sports company that also manages the Sydney Football Stadium located next door.
Formerly known as the Pickwick Cricket Club, the Kensington Oval is a stadium situated in the west of the city Bridgetown which is the capital city of the island of Barbados. It has been existent since the last 130 years although the first Test match played here was between West Indies and England in January 1930.
After its reconstruction for the 2007 50-over World Cup, its seating capacity has been increased to 28,000. The names of the previous stands which made up the Kensington stadium were the George Challenor stand, the Hall and Griffith, the Kensington, the Mitchie Hewitt, the Pickwick, and the Three Ws stand plus the Peter Short Media Centre.
The MCG is the largest cricket ground in the world, founded in 1854 with a capacity of 100,000 people and a playing area 172.9 m long and 147.8 m wide. It holds several other records such as being the tenth largest sports stadium in the world and having the highest light towers at any sporting venue.
The ‘G’ as it is affectionately called by the people of Melbourne, has hosted the 1956 Olympic games and the 2006 Commonwealth Games apart from cricket and Australian rules football matches, which are played in the winter season.
Founded in 1864, the Eden Gardens is India’s answer to the MCG. The stadium is located in the Binoy Badal Dinesh Bag area of the city, near the State Secretariat and the High Court and has hosted 37 Test matches and 25 one-day internationals in its cricketing history. It first hosted a Test match in 1934 against England, led by Douglas Jardine which would go on to win inside four days. While it’s first ODI was the 1987 World Cup match between India and Pakistan, which appropriately the then-defending champions and hosts India won by 2 wickets.
The founder of this ground was Thomas Lord, and was established in 1814. The first ever international fixture here was an Ashes Test in 1884 between England and Australia. Ever since it has hosted some thrilling matches with respect to both Tests and ODIs, with one of them ofcourse being the NatWest Series final in 2002 when India chased down 326 in 50 overs, famously beating England and Sourav Ganguly, who has fond memories of this ground for enlightening his career, was the captain of India in the game and famously removed his India jersey as a sign of celebration.
Located in the area of St. John’s Wood in North London, the Lord’s Cricket Ground is definitely one of the finest cricket stadiums in the world. Also known as the ‘Home of Cricket’, Lord’s was once the centre of the cricketing globe, since most of the administrative decisions courtesy the ICC having its headquarters here until 2005, were taken on the premises of this very ground.
However, the crowd is so engrossed with the game and cheering India that it has witnessed some of the most embarrassing moments of Indian cricket such as burning of fire in between the 1996 World Cup semifinal match between India and Sri Lanka as well a Test match between India and Pakistan in 1999, which disrupted the flow of play and India went on to lose both those matches. As much as Kolkata loves cricket, it loves India too since it cannot see an opposition winning and not getting their money’s worth.
Top 10 Cricket Stadiums of the World
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