Cricket is played with great enthusiasm in stadia all over the world. Some venues like the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club Ground and the Central Sports Club Ground in Zambia are mere pinpricks on the world map. Others like Lord’s, Eden Park and the MCG are iconic landmarks saturated in history.
As the
2019 Cricket World Cup draws ever closer, it seems an appropriate time to celebrate the flagship stadia in three cricket mad countries – all of which have a similar pedigree when it comes to winning the big-ticket tournaments!
Here’s the largest cricket stadium in England, Australia and India, respectively:
Lord’s - England
Lord’s
is the Home of Cricket. It is where the game was officially born and where all professional cricketers want to prove their mettle before they die. It’s hallowed turf where only the greats of the game triumph and have since the first test was played between England and India in 1884!
Star batsmen like Kevin Pietersen, Hashim Amla and Steve Smith are amongst a coterie of fine cricketers who have tamed the Lord’s pitch, scoring centuries one and all. Bowlers of the calibre of Jimmy Anderson, Glenn McGrath and Allan Donald are a rare few speedsters who boast one or more five wicket hauls… at Lord’s!
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The home of the Marylebone Cricket Club is a brilliant blend of old and new, with Old Father Time sharing space with the ultra-mod all-aluminium media centre. It’s also the largest ground in England and Wales in terms of seating capacity. Just about every day of a test series or an ODI or T20 match, Lord’s welcomes 28,000 beer-swilling fans to sing and belch through proceedings!
Melbourne Cricket Ground – Australia
The MCG is the largest stadium in Australia… and the rest of the southern hemisphere. On a good day there are exactly 100,024 bums on seats cheering the Aussies on.
It’s the kind of place where queens, popes and presidents visit and has hosted some of the real rock stars of our era – David Bowie, Madonna, U2, Michael Jackson, Elton John and Guns ‘N Roses.
The MCG may be the archangel of Aussie entertainment but it’s also the venue of the first test between Australia and England in 1877… and has been awarded National Heritage status for the trouble. Now days the Boxing Day test, with its sledging, beamers and babble, is the highlight of the MCG cricket season.
The MCG may be all about history and Aussie pride but it’s also a leader in pitch technology. It’s the first stadium on the planet to drop portable pitches into play… and run with the results.
Eden Gardens – India
With the layout and ambience of a Roman colosseum, Eden Gardens is the oldest and largest cricket stadium in India. It’s also one of the nosiest cricket venues on earth. The 68,000 stomping, swaying and yelling Bengalis are notorious for intimidating the fiercest of foes and are known as the 12
th man for their efforts!
The stadium – which oddly enough is named after the sisters of an English colonial earl – is owned by the Indian Army. That’s probably why most of the stands are named after soldiers and administrators rather than Indian cricketers.
Although established in 1864, Eden Park only hosted its first test 70 years later. The contest was naturally between India and their former colonial power. It’s where the Little Master in the form of Sachin Tendulkar played his 199
th and penultimate test and where Chetan Sharma, Kapil Dev and Kuldeep Yadav claimed three ODI scalps in a row!
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