Manuka Oval
Encyclopedia
Manuka Oval is a 13,550 capacity ground (however the capacity can be exceeded, 10,000 seated) located in the suburb of Griffith
, adjacent to Manuka
, a business district of Canberra
, Australia
's capital.
The stadium is home to many events throughout the year, including cricket
matches in the summer months and Australian rules football
matches in the winter months.
plant's Māori name
, Manuka. There was a push for the park to become an enclosed oval starting in 1926 by various sports groups. Work began on Manuka Oval to erect a fence, along with other improvements made in 1929. The field had previously been used to casually play rugby league
and Australian rules football. The first cricket pitch was played on in April 1930. The Bradman Pavilion, the oval's main stand, was constructed in 1962 in honour of Sir Donald Bradman
. The Robert Menzies
Stand and the Bob Hawke
Stand were constructed in 1987 and 1992 respectively and were named after the first two Australian Prime Ministers
who brought international cricket to Canberra in the form of the Prime Minister's XI
. In 2004, Manuka Oval celebrated the 75th anniversary of its formal establishment. Manuka Oval will have a $4.3million upgrade starting from the second half of 2011, which includes 4,300 additional temporary seats for the venue, new media and corporate facilities, upgrades to the Hawke and Bradman stands' covering and upgrades to entry facilities, with upgrades of the ground's lighting to the to be considered in the future.
, 13 April 1930. The Prime Minister's XI
is played at the oval annually, it was started by Robert Menzies in 1951 and there were six more matches up to 1965 in his term as Prime Minister, the match was brought back in 1984 by Bob Hawke and has been played annually since. In 1992 the ground hosted its first One Day International (ODI) match between South Africa
and Zimbabwe
as part of the 1992 Cricket World Cup
. The ground is home to the Canberra Comets who played in the Mercantile Mutual Cup from the 1997–98 season to the 1999–2000 season, they now play in the Futures League. Manuka was looking to host a Test match
in the year 2013 to celebrate Canberra's 100th anniversary, however it now more likely to be an ODI with Australia involved. Manuka Oval held its second ODI on 12 February 2008 between India and Sri Lanka in the Australian tri-series. In 2009 the ground hosted two games in the Women's World Cup
. The New South Wales Blues
for three seasons, starting from the 2011–12 season, will play a Sheffield Shield and Ryobi One Day Cup match each season.
, a Melbourne
based club in the Australian Football League
who had played matches at the venue from 1998 to 2006, playing three games per season from 2001 onwards. The ground record crowd was set in 2006 when 14,922 people came to watch the Kangaroos play the Sydney Swans
. Brent Harvey
was the only player to have played all 18 AFL games featuring the Kangaroos played at Manuka. It was announced on 16 August 2006 that the Melbourne Demons
and the Western Bulldogs
would play one premiership match each, from 2007 to 2009, all games were played against the Sydney Swans. The ground hosted one AFL regular season fixture in 2010 and 2011 between the Western Bulldogs and the Sydney Swans. From 2012 onwards the Greater Western Sydney Giants will play three regular season matches a year and one pre-season match at the ground. Manuka also hosts the home matches of the Belconnen Magpies
and Eastlake Demons
in the North East Australian Football League
competition as well as all eastern conference finals.
on 29 May 2001 with the Canberra Raiders
moving their National Rugby League
game to the ground because the ACT Brumbies were playing the Super 12 Final on the same night at Bruce Stadium
. The Canberra Kookaburras
(rugby union
) played their home games at Manuka Oval when they competed in the Sydney competition
from 1995 until they were excluded from the competition in 2000. The Canberra team rejoined the top Sydney competition
in 2004 as the Canberra Vikings
however opted to play their home games at Viking Park
instead, the Canberra Vikings did make a return to Manuka Oval in 2007 for the Australian Rugby Championship
and played three of their four home games at the ground, the other game was played at Canberra Stadium
, however the competition was scrapped by the Australian Rugby Union
at the end of the year. Hockey
was also played at Manuka Oval until the National Hockey Centre was built. The venue has also previously hosted boxing
and wrestling
.
. The trees that circle the entire oval include cypress
, poplar, oak
and elm
trees many of which were planted in the 1920s. The oval's scoreboard, the Jack Fingleton Scoreboard, was originally located at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, dated to 1901, however as the Melbourne Cricket Ground installed a new electronic scoreboard at the ground in the early 1980s the scoreboard was relocated to Manuka oval. The scoreboard was named after Jack Fingleton
, who had recently died at the time of installation at Manuka, who was an Australian opening batsman as well as a political correspondent in Canberra and prolific author.
Griffith, Australian Capital Territory
Griffith is an early inner-south suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Griffith is named after Sir Samuel Griffith, who was chosen in 1903 as the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and retained his position until retirement in 1919...
, adjacent to Manuka
Manuka, Australian Capital Territory
Manuka is an area in the Inner South district of Canberra, Australia covering parts of the suburbs of Griffith and Forrest. Manuka Shops, Manuka Oval, Manuka Swimming Pool, and Manuka Circle take their name from the park in the area.- Origin of name :...
, a business district of Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's capital.
The stadium is home to many events throughout the year, including cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
matches in the summer months and Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
matches in the winter months.
History
The oval was originally a park officially known as Manuka Circle Park, however by the end of the 1920s it was known as Manuka Oval. The park and shopping centre were named after the leptospermum scopariumLeptospermum scoparium
Leptospermum scoparium is a shrub or small tree native to New Zealand and southeast Australia. Evidence suggests that L. scoparium originated in Australia before the onset of the Miocene aridity and dispersed relatively recently from Eastern Australia to New Zealand. It is likely that on arrival...
plant's Māori name
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
, Manuka. There was a push for the park to become an enclosed oval starting in 1926 by various sports groups. Work began on Manuka Oval to erect a fence, along with other improvements made in 1929. The field had previously been used to casually play rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
and Australian rules football. The first cricket pitch was played on in April 1930. The Bradman Pavilion, the oval's main stand, was constructed in 1962 in honour of Sir Donald Bradman
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
. The Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
Stand and the Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
Stand were constructed in 1987 and 1992 respectively and were named after the first two Australian Prime Ministers
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
who brought international cricket to Canberra in the form of the Prime Minister's XI
Prime Minister's XI
Prime Minister's XI or PM's XI is the name of an annual cricket match held at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, with the Australian team picked by the Prime Minister of Australia playing against an overseas team...
. In 2004, Manuka Oval celebrated the 75th anniversary of its formal establishment. Manuka Oval will have a $4.3million upgrade starting from the second half of 2011, which includes 4,300 additional temporary seats for the venue, new media and corporate facilities, upgrades to the Hawke and Bradman stands' covering and upgrades to entry facilities, with upgrades of the ground's lighting to the to be considered in the future.
Cricket
The first cricket match to be played at the oval was on Easter MondayEaster Monday
Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures...
, 13 April 1930. The Prime Minister's XI
Prime Minister's XI
Prime Minister's XI or PM's XI is the name of an annual cricket match held at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, with the Australian team picked by the Prime Minister of Australia playing against an overseas team...
is played at the oval annually, it was started by Robert Menzies in 1951 and there were six more matches up to 1965 in his term as Prime Minister, the match was brought back in 1984 by Bob Hawke and has been played annually since. In 1992 the ground hosted its first One Day International (ODI) match between South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean cricket team
The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket...
as part of the 1992 Cricket World Cup
1992 Cricket World Cup
-New Zealand:-Round Robin Stage:Co-hosts New Zealand proved the surprise packet of the tournament, winning their first seven games to finish on top of the table after the round robin. The other hosts, Australia, were one of the pre-tournament favourites but lost their first two matches. They...
. The ground is home to the Canberra Comets who played in the Mercantile Mutual Cup from the 1997–98 season to the 1999–2000 season, they now play in the Futures League. Manuka was looking to host a Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
in the year 2013 to celebrate Canberra's 100th anniversary, however it now more likely to be an ODI with Australia involved. Manuka Oval held its second ODI on 12 February 2008 between India and Sri Lanka in the Australian tri-series. In 2009 the ground hosted two games in the Women's World Cup
2009 Women's Cricket World Cup
The 2009 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the tournament and was held in Australia from 7 to 22 March 2009, using the sport's One Day International format....
. The New South Wales Blues
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
for three seasons, starting from the 2011–12 season, will play a Sheffield Shield and Ryobi One Day Cup match each season.
Australian rules football
The oval was a home venue to the KangaroosNorth Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
, a Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
based club in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
who had played matches at the venue from 1998 to 2006, playing three games per season from 2001 onwards. The ground record crowd was set in 2006 when 14,922 people came to watch the Kangaroos play the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
. Brent Harvey
Brent Harvey
Brent "Boomer" Harvey is an Australian rules footballer and the current captain of the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League ....
was the only player to have played all 18 AFL games featuring the Kangaroos played at Manuka. It was announced on 16 August 2006 that the Melbourne Demons
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
and the Western Bulldogs
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
would play one premiership match each, from 2007 to 2009, all games were played against the Sydney Swans. The ground hosted one AFL regular season fixture in 2010 and 2011 between the Western Bulldogs and the Sydney Swans. From 2012 onwards the Greater Western Sydney Giants will play three regular season matches a year and one pre-season match at the ground. Manuka also hosts the home matches of the Belconnen Magpies
Belconnen Magpies Football Club
The Belconnen Magpies Football Club are an Australian rules football club that compete in the North East Australian Football League.- External links :**...
and Eastlake Demons
Eastlake Football Club
Eastlake Football Club is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the inner-south of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. They compete in the North East Australian Football League.-Championship Success:...
in the North East Australian Football League
AFL Canberra
AFL Canberra is the governing body for Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory.In November 2010 the five AFL Canberra Premier Division clubs merged with the Premier Division clubs of the Queensland Australian Football League to form the North East Australian Football League...
competition as well as all eastern conference finals.
Other
Manuka Oval hosted first-grade rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
on 29 May 2001 with the Canberra Raiders
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership since 1982...
moving their National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
game to the ground because the ACT Brumbies were playing the Super 12 Final on the same night at Bruce Stadium
Canberra Stadium
Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia...
. The Canberra Kookaburras
Canberra Vikings
The Canberra Vikings were an Australian rugby union football club that played in the now-defunct Australian Rugby Championship. The Vikings were formed as the only club from the Australian Capital Territory that participated in the inaugural season of the championship, which started in August 2007...
(rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
) played their home games at Manuka Oval when they competed in the Sydney competition
Shute Shield
The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final...
from 1995 until they were excluded from the competition in 2000. The Canberra team rejoined the top Sydney competition
Tooheys New Cup
The Tooheys New Cup is a rugby union competition established by the New South Wales Rugby Union in 2002 as a stepping stone between the existing grade rugby and Super 14 competitions. Open to the existing 12 grade clubs, the TNC features Super 14 players not on international duty and the...
in 2004 as the Canberra Vikings
Canberra Vikings
The Canberra Vikings were an Australian rugby union football club that played in the now-defunct Australian Rugby Championship. The Vikings were formed as the only club from the Australian Capital Territory that participated in the inaugural season of the championship, which started in August 2007...
however opted to play their home games at Viking Park
Viking Park
Viking Park is an 8,000 capacity stadium in Canberra, Australia. It has a rectangular playing surface which is used to host rugby union matches. It is home to the Tuggeranong Vikings and all matches in the ACT rugby finals are played here. The Canberra Vikings also played there in 2004 & 2005 when...
instead, the Canberra Vikings did make a return to Manuka Oval in 2007 for the Australian Rugby Championship
Australian Rugby Championship
The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC , was a domestic Rugby union football club competition in Australia which ran for only one season in August–October 2007...
and played three of their four home games at the ground, the other game was played at Canberra Stadium
Canberra Stadium
Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia...
, however the competition was scrapped by the Australian Rugby Union
Australian Rugby Union
The Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board the sport's governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory...
at the end of the year. Hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
was also played at Manuka Oval until the National Hockey Centre was built. The venue has also previously hosted boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
.
Ground amenities
A two-storey curator's residence is attached to the oval. It was built in the 1930s in the style typically used by the Federal Capital CommissionFederal Capital Commission
The Federal Capital Commission was an agency of the Australian government formed to construct and administer Canberra from 1 January 1925. The Chief Commissioner of the body was Sir John Butters....
. The trees that circle the entire oval include cypress
Cypress
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...
, poplar, oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
and elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
trees many of which were planted in the 1920s. The oval's scoreboard, the Jack Fingleton Scoreboard, was originally located at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, dated to 1901, however as the Melbourne Cricket Ground installed a new electronic scoreboard at the ground in the early 1980s the scoreboard was relocated to Manuka oval. The scoreboard was named after Jack Fingleton
Jack Fingleton
John "Jack" Henry Webb Fingleton OBE was an Australian cricketer who was trained as a journalist and became a political and cricket commentator after the end of his playing career...
, who had recently died at the time of installation at Manuka, who was an Australian opening batsman as well as a political correspondent in Canberra and prolific author.