MEMBERS ON SPORTING STAGE - Melbourne Cricket Club

As we head towards the end of
2008 we look back on another
amazing and successful year
of cricket, football and special events
at the ’G.
The AFL home and away matches
were attended by about 2.3 million
fans and we were particularly pleased
to see Victorian teams at the top of
the ladder.
As a consequence we hosted seven
fi nals, including both preliminary fi nals
and the grand fi nal, adding another
500,000 to the attendance total. This
gave us 2.8 million for the season, up
on 2.5 million last year.
The grand fi nal crowd exceeded
100,000 and we congratulate Hawthorn
on their premiership victory. The
Members Reserve was at capacity but
reports suggest that members enjoyed
their day in reasonable comfort.
I am pleased to note that incidents of
inappropriate behavior in the Reserve
fell markedly during the football
FROM THE PRESIDENT
CONCOURSE WIDENING
UNDERWAY
Further to our report in July’s MCC News, work has
commenced on the widening of the concourse outside
Gate 7 in the Great Southern Stand to facilitate better
pedestrian circulation on event days.
The 215m x 6m path is being constructed over Brunton
Avenue between the footbridges that connect the MCG to
Hisense Arena (formerly Vodafone Arena) and Rod Laver
Arena. It is expected to be completed just prior to the start of
the 2009 AFL season.
In the meantime, MCG visitors and passers-by will
experience partial and (at times) full road closures of
Brunton Avenue as work continues. In particular, there will
be no access to the stadium via Brunton Avenue during the
fi rst two weeks of January, except on major event days.
season. There were still several
unsavoury matters dealt with – often
involving members’ guests – but I am
confi dent that our campaign to
improve behaviour standards is having
a positive impact.
There was more good football news
when we opened the Australian
Football Hall of Fame in August.
This is an outstanding tribute to the
game’s greats and a real coup for the
National Sports Museum. We were
delighted when the AFL agreed to
relocate the hall of fame and it is a fi ne
addition to the museum’s wide range
of attractions.
So, too, are the Pepper’s Ghost
exhibitions featuring James Hird and
Shane Warne. These are world-class
productions utilising technology to
bring two of our fi nest sportsmen
“into the room”, as it were.
Visitors are enthralled by the
intimacy of the experience and I highly
recommend it to members.
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame,
now an integral part of the NSM,
inducted seven new members in
October and the exposure this brings
to the museum will be increasingly
valuable in the years ahead.
Members will be interested to know
that we have commissioned a portrait
of one of the club’s most infl uential and
popular presidents, Frank Grey Smith.
Although we do have a small
photograph of Frank in the Long
Room and he has been recognised in
the naming of the Frank Grey Smith
Bar, we thought it appropriate to have
another tangible reminder of this
man who guided the club through
a very diffi cult fi nancial period in the
late-1890s.
Finally, as this is the last newsletter
for 2008, I wish all members and their
families a safe and happy festive period
and hope to see many of you at the
cricket in the months ahead.
David Meiklejohn
CRICKET SEASON FULL
STEAM AHEAD
The 2008/09 cricket season is under way, with a range
of international and domestic cricket to whet the
appetite of cricket fans.
While the Boxing Day Test against the South Africans
will be the hallmark event, the Twenty20 international,
two one-day internationals and Victoria’s Sheffi eld Shield,
Ford Ranger Cup and Twenty20 campaigns promise to be
hugely popular among members and their guests.
All the details about the coming season are outlined in an
eight-page guide accompanying this newsletter as a convenient
reference point for all arrangements for the summer.
Some arrangements may be subject to change, so please refer
to the club’s website, weekly information bulletin and regular
emails from the club for the most up-to-date information.
The Sheffi eld Shield is back
in its place as the prize
for Australia’s four-day
domestic cricket competition,
much to the pleasure
of Brett Lee and Brad
Hodge. The shield has
been on display in the
Backyard to Baggy Green
exhibition at the National
Sports Museum.
DECEMBER 2008
MCC NEWS
3