The Melbourne Cricket Ground
- by chrismoore
The MCG has been the scene of many great sporting events, as well as many ‘first’ in Australian sporting history. In the heart of Melbourne, the MCG is Australia’s most significant sporting stadium, dating back to September 1853.
We signed up to the tour, which includes entry into the National Sports Museum located within the stadium. We paid just $15, which is a backpackers/student price. Normal admission costs $22. This really is a fantastic price for what you get to see.
The tour starts with you walking out into the lower tiers of the stadium and looking up and around at the magnificent ground. Your guide will then tell you some of the amazing facts and statistics about the MCG. The record attendance is 121,000 people and to achieve this, some spectators had to sit on the roof. They obviously didn’t feel the same way about heights as I do. We then walked on down to the pitch and got to walk on the famous surface. The grass was in immaculate condition. During our tour we were lucky enough to watch the Queensland cricket team warm up in preparation for their game against Victoria the following night. My favourite cricket player, Andrew Symmonds, was warming up. He’s much bigger close up than he looks on television.
We continued on to the famous Long Room, the MCG library and the CV Bill Lowry indoor cricket centre. The facilities throughout the stadium blow you away and the heritage and stories you are told are very interesting. My favourite part of the tour was the view from the top tier of the stadium. Incredible!
The tour of the stadium took about 90 minutes and the only disappointment was that the changing rooms were in use, so we couldn’t see them. Apart from that, the tour was fantastic.
The National Sports Museum
The National Sports Museum showcases more than 2500 objects related to the greatest moments in Australia’s sporting history. It has many interactive galleries and games, a full audio tour and a chance to experience the thrill of participating in a diverse range of sporting environments and activities. The museum has sections on the Olympics, Multi-Sports, the MCG and massive sections on Cricket and AFL, the two major sports played at the MCG. The best features of these two large sections are the 3-D hologram shows. For the cricket section, the cricket ‘spin king’ Shane Warne takes you on his personal journey in ‘Cricket Found Me’. For the AFL, you are taken on a journey through the career of the former champion footballer, James Hird in ‘Off the Bench’.
The museum is very entertaining and hours can easily wiz by as you walk and explore through the various sections. Definitely not to be overlooked.
MCG Tour Operating Information
Tours operate regularly between 10AM-3PM on non-event days. Booking is essential for groups; to ensure your preferred departure time can be guaranteed.
March 12th, 2009 at 2:00 am
[...] « The Melbourne Cricket Ground [...]
March 13th, 2009 at 12:55 am
How noble we look standing on the famous turf of the MCG!! Such a pity that we couldn’t go and see a game of Aussie Rules or Cricket at the ground!!
April 9th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Dont beat the Ammanford cricket ground!!!!!haha