Letter from Melbourne

The brightest, latest and greatest

Rajan Iyer

Switzerland recently realised a cash surplus of over 11 billion dollars through a sale of some of its gold reserves. Their problem now is how this should be deployed. Suggestions have run from donations to charities to handing it back to the people.

While Australia is not losing any sleep over such problems, in one respect its situation is akin to Switzerland’s; that of sporting facilities.

Let us not even look at Sydney with its cornucopia of new facilities for the Olympics. One just needs to cast a leisurely eye over Melbourne. In close proximity to the Central Business District, there exist a few excellent facilities. The MCG dominates the skyline with its six light towers, close to the equally famous National Tennis Centre, nowadays called Melbourne Park, which is but a pedestrian crossing away from Olympic Park, home to rugby.

Just across the city from this triumvirate lies Optus Oval and in the other direction the lesser known Junction Oval. Close by, the Formula One track adjoins the National Aquatic Centre and the Albert Park golf course. The mind now begins to flounder as all other grounds clamour and begin to jostle the queue.

Melbourne is spoilt for choice with sporting facilities. Consider the announcement that two suburban stadia are to close. The reasons would put them in context. Victoria Park is old and its facilities are aging; Waverley, its moment of fame or infamy, depending on your point of view, when it was host to World Series Cricket and West Indians clad in hot pink, long past. It’s sin - it is drafty, cold old and far from the city!

Indeed the few desultory objections against their closing stem from architectural and historical grounds. One almost feels that the city fathers are determined not to allow the word antediluvian to enter the lexicon, such is the headlong rush towards the brightest, latest and greatest.

And the brightest, latest and greatest is Colonial stadium. This is a striking concoction of steel, glass, paint, light and turf raised as the crown piece of an urban reclamation project. Reached by a wide and handsome footbridge over the railway lines at the western end of the CBD, it rises slick and modern over Melbourne’s dock lands which is all set for commercial redevelopment. Indeed so keen are the grown-ups in government to gild the lily, that the expressly utilitarian Footscray Road outside has returned in the avatar of Harbour Esplanade.

Having opened as recently as March 9, Colonial stadium has hosted Australian Football League (AFL) games garnished with the odd concert or rugby game practically every weekend since. Aficionados of cricket have been pawing the ground, anxious to rush in on the 16th of August when Australia take on South Africa in the world’s first ever game of Limited Overs International cricket played indoors.

When I visited, I walked past large new squares of turf waiting to replace worn ones from the playing surface. This works on exchanging turf sections between heavy-wear and low-wear areas of the playing field and an outside nursery where turf is grown.

The first thing that crossed my mind as I glimpsed the inside of the stadium was - this is so intimate. I might just not need my binoculars here.

With a seating capacity of just 52,000, everyone is in closer proximity to the wicket than ever before. One can just see a greater number of sixes hit, and definitely 300-plus scores. Indeed, viewer friendliness seems to have been a major design deliverable. Patrons occupying the furthermost reaches of the uppermost stand need not negotiate vertigo inducing climbs to their perches, as the pitch of this stand is quite friendly.

Stadia around the world have individual features that distinguish them. The brains behind Colonial seem to have done their best to draw together all those individual facets into one whole.

The features we have come to accept as par for the course are all there. The huge electronic scoreboards, quick ingress and egress, Childcare facilities, facilities for the mobility and hearing-impaired, the plethora of food outlets.

The Press facility is well equipped with the latest and greatest in phone and data lines for instant connectivity. Video conferencing completes the picture just in case.

Closed circuit TV allows big brother to pinpoint anarchists down to their seat numbers as they prepare to let loose beach balls.

Lighting for the night games is from seven hundred metal halide lamps in the roof structure, covering the entire ground. Therefore, light towers, for the entire spectacle they afforded, are now passé.

Channel 7 has a permanent broadcast studio on the premises. The stadium also features a collection of restaurants and bars that also allow full views of the arena. If so inclined, there is a nightclub on site too!

The players’ dressing rooms are large and comfortable with massage tables, showers and locker rooms and internal access to media rooms and discreet exits. AFL has a tradition of footy club members being allowed limited access to the dressing rooms to watch their heroes warm up. A cordoned off area to one side facilitates this. Cannot ever see this happening in cricket mad India, I thought. It would be an invitation to a riot.

Studded boots on hard surfaces is the probable cause of all those grim expressions as rugby and footy players charge onto the field. Attention has now been paid to this detail with a rubberised underlay on the floor of the dressing room. So, as John Eales or Jonah Lomu thunder up the race, we can all rest in our couches, secure in the knowledge that if they ever blow a knee, the culprit was not the race at Colonial stadium.

Flying on some of the newer airplanes these days, the sight of rows upon rows of punters intently staring as one into the seats before them, heads aslant, often causes an urgent clamp down on the lips to prevent laughter.

It transpires that the TV screen embedded in these seats commands such transfixation.

One can expect to be similarly entertained by the worthies in the posh Medallion club here, as their plush seats come equipped with flip up TV screens that call up every channel and a few others besides. One presumes that during commercial breaks, they will actually watch the goings-on in the ground.

We finally come to the celebrated roof. All three games between Australia and South Africa will be under the closed roof. The roof is usually left open during daylight hours to allow the grass to grow and can be shut within eight minutes to allow a fully covered arena. That of course begs the question, what happens if a lofted shot hits the roof. In raw figures, the height between the pitch and roof is 35 metres at its highest point and 24 metres at its lowest.

A footy player, Ben Brown of the club side Geelong has already found the roof with the Sherrin. So, who among the Aussies or the Proteas will be the first to implant the Kookaburra?

Conversely, no one can really dig in his heels to do a Geoff Boycott. This is literally true, as one does not have to dig deep to touch the roof of the underground car park, which is directly beneath!

The legendary Les Burdett is preparing the wickets off site and these will be ensconced immediately after the footy this weekend.

The three-game series promises to be thrilling and a great deal of interest abounds. Here’s hoping to three close finishes at this exciting venue.

Mail Cricket Editor