Incredible venues for cricket

By Rajadhyax

Reams are written about cricket players, teams, sponsors, spectators, associations and, above all, the matches. Sadly, we cannot see the same being said about the venues at which international cricket is played. Spread across the world are some of the most fascinating, incredible places to play and watch cricket and many of them have now got a near cult-status too. And thanks to the invention of television and live telecasts you don’t have to go to these specific places to join in the fun. You can stay home; relax in your drawing room and munch on crackers while watching matches at these exciting venues.

If you ask cricket fans across the world about their favourite venues, over eighty percent of the international cricket venues from the world would get nominated. To each his own! Pakistanis would love the Gaddafi Stadium as much as the New Zealanders would pine for the Basin Reserve. Someone settled in the gulf would rue that matches are no longer played at Sharjah but appreciate that Abu Dhabi is getting internationals now. But my informal conversations with cricket enthusiasts and players reveal that there are four venues that no one misses from his list of favourites. These are the places where one dreams of watching matches. Oh, playing there would be even better!

If Australia is a great cricketing nation then MCG is its highest pedestal. Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is located at Yerra Park in Melbourne, Australia. It is the largest cricket ground and eighth largest stadium of any kind in the world. Opened in 1854, the actual stadium has undergone many renovations and changes. More than a hundred thousand people can watch a match at the same time in superb comfort. It has hosted virtually all the major teams of the world and doubles up as an Aussie Football ground as well. It hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics and is supposed to be a colourful place where cricketers especially enjoy playing due to the ease with which they can watch the ball anywhere on the ground. The Boxing Day Test match is a traditional affair at MCG and it attracts a very large crowd from Australia and abroad.

Lord’s cricket ground is the ‘Mecca’ of cricket. It is in St. Johns Wood, London, UK. It is often touted as “the home of cricket” what with ICC being head quartered there till 2005, before it moved to Dubai. Lords was opened in 1814 and is an exquisite little place that marries traditional heritage of cricket with ultra-modernism of the game. Lord’s is named after its founder Thomas Lord, who was a British visionary and made three sporting arenas in his time. Two of them were later taken up for other constructions while the present stadium remained. It has a capacity of only 29000 seats but its view is majestic and the lush green outfield is among the favourites of the best fielders in the game.

In India cricket is religion. And Eden Gardens, situated in Kolkata, is its most sacred temple. It is a place where major records have tumbled and where some of the most thrilling contests have been watched by cricket crazed Bengali fans. Officially the capacity of this stadium is ninety thousand but well over that number gets crammed on the day of important cricket matches. Opened in 1865, its first recorded Test match was played between India and England in 1934. It’s very sporting wicket, smooth-as-silk outfield and panoramic architecture is something that a professional photographer would give his right hand for. VVS Laxman’s 281 against Australia and Harbhajan’s Test hat trick against the same opposition at this venue are two memories that Kolkatans will never forget.

Sabina Park is housed in Kingston, Jamaica and has been the host for some of the deadliest swing-and-seam bowlers from the West Indies. If Lord’s is called as the home of cricket, then this one is called as “the holiday home of cricket”. The Blue Mountains on one side and Kingston Harbour on the other sandwich this gregarious place of cricket. Rum swigging and beer guzzling Caribbean fans dressed for a holiday dance on the calypso beat while appreciating the game of cricket. Opened in 1930, it is the smallest of this lot with a capacity of just 16000. That they make a racket equivalent to 60000 is another story! It is the ground where the world’s first Test triple century was scored by Andy Sandham and its one place where the ball and bat have both made merry on their day.

These venues are not merely sports venues. They are tourist destinations. They are mind boggling versions of what man and his architecture can achieve. They are picturesque locations for the ethereal meeting of ball and bat. They are any sports photographer’s delight. They are like God’s own places reserved for cricketers and their fans.