Capacity: 42,200
Opened: 1896
Owner: Queensland Government
Operator: Major Sports Facilities Authority
Construction cost: $128,000,000 (redevelopment)
Architect: Daryl Jackson Architects

A major sports arena, the Brisbane Cricket Ground is also known as The Gabba, due to its location in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.

The land on which the ground sits was first set aside for use as a cricket ground in 1895. The first cricket match was held on the site on 19 December 1896 between Parliament and The Press. The Gabba was not used for interstate or international cricket until 1931. The first Sheffield Shield match scheduled for The Gabba was to be played between 31 January 1931 and 4 February 1931, however it was washed out without the captains even bothering to toss a coin. The first cricket Test match at The Gabba was played Australia and South Africa between 27 November and 3 December 1931.

Between 1993 and 2005 The Gabba was redeveloped in six stages at a cost of $128,000,000. The dimensions of the playing field are now 170.6 metres (east-west) by 149.9 metres (north-south). The seating capacity of the ground is now 42,200.

Australian rules football

Since 1993 the Gabba has been the home ground for the Brisbane Bears (to 1996) and (from 1997) Brisbane Lions AFL teams. The record crowd for an Australian rules football match is 37,224 between the Brisbane Lions and Collingwood.

Australian rules football has a long association with the ground. AFL Queensland (originally known as the Queensland Football League) played matches at the Gabba from 1905 to 1914 and 1959 to 1971. AFLQ matches resumed in 1993 as curtain-raiser events to AFL games, along with occasional AFLQ Grand Finals. Interstate games, including the 1961 national carnival, have also been played there. In 1991 the Gabba was host to Queensland’s only victory over a Victorian side.

Cricket

From October to March the Gabba is used for cricket and is home to the Queensland Cricket Association, Queensland Cricketers’ Club and the Queensland Bulls cricket team. The venue also hosts the first Test match of the season, in addition to a number of international one-day matches each year.

Test cricket was first played at the ground in November 1931, the first Test of the series between Australia and South Africa. In December 1960, Test cricket’s first-ever Tied Test took place at the ground when Richie Benaud’s Australian team tied with Frank Worrell’s West Indian side. Queensland clinched its first-ever Sheffield Shield title with victory over South Australia in the final at the ground in March 1995.

A record crowd for any cricket match of 39,874 flocked to the Gabba on January 15, 2006 to see Australia play South Africa in the second game of the triangular VB Series.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

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Brisbane Cricket Ground website
Brisbane Cricket Ground wikipedia entry
Queensland Bulls website
Brisbane Lions website
Lionised Fansite
AFL website
Cricket Australia website

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