The SCG, 5th Ashes Test. Some pics.

Went black and white with these pics from day 2. Tried to create a kind of 1930s Bradman era feel to the pics with the old pavilion in the background.

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Nice pics Henry.

Nice pics, none of the Mudge/Zat Sydney meet up?

I like the last one of Midge in his pie-delivery stride especially.

JKLever wrote:Nice pics, none of the Mudge/Zat Sydney meet up?

Yeah, we had a few drinks. Don't remember much, but somehow we found our way into the WAG's box.

Through a time portal it would appear.

Ok, that was funny for about five minutes. i don't wanna lower this forum any further......

But now my post doesn't make sense and I look like a twat.
Still, not for the first time.

Have got a picture of the Hoff on the big screen. He messed up the hooter on the relay race and one poor lad didn't realize the race had to be restarted and so galloped a lap of the SCG and thought he had won bless him.

Again an ugly old ground. Fortunately the cricket was compelling for the first 2 days.

Eric Air Emu wrote:Have got a picture of the Hoff on the big screen. He messed up the hooter on the relay race and one poor lad didn't realize the race had to be restarted and so galloped a lap of the SCG and thought he had won bless him.

Again an ugly old ground. Fortunately the cricket was compelling for the first 2 days.

Haha yeah that was awkward. Looked like some of the competitors were a bit pissed off at the Hoff's lack of skill with the horn.

Apart from the fantastic pavilion, the SCG is an ugly mix of 1980's and 00s stadium architecture. I think they should tear down the Churchill, Brewongle, O'Reilly, and Dally messenger stands and start again. The Trumper Stand is done and will have to remain, unfortunately.

Adelaide managed to build more stands and increase capacity without it losing much of its beauty. They've done a great job there because they've remembered that people like cricket grounds that look nice.

The next step for the SCG is to knock down the Bradman and Noble stands. They will no doubt replace it with a Trumper stand copy.

A process which was supposed to be underway very soon (if not already) but which has been delayed by the GFC.

I found it somewhat disconcerting on one of my days in the Noble that on several occasions some rust flaking off the roof landed in my beer...

Zat wrote:A process which was supposed to be underway very soon (if not already) but which has been delayed by the GFC.

I found it somewhat disconcerting on one of my days in the Noble that on several occasions some rust flaking off the roof landed in my beer...

I trust you took it back - the beer that is, unless it was VB in which case rust could only improve it.

I like the SCG a lot .

We are lucky that most of our grounds have character and differ signifcantly from each other...
the gabba is now a real amphitheatre
Adelaide O is still graceful
Bellerive is just beautiful
The G despite whatever is torn down and rebuilt is on holy ground
I guess the only ground that lacks a particular atmosphere is the waca

The SCG had character when it still had the grassy hill.

I reckon they could have kept the grass and still made it 40,000 capacity. The thing I like about the South African grounds is that every one of them has a grassy area ('Castle Corner') that adds a festival feel to each match, not to mention a whole bunch of seriously hot chicks in bikinis.

agree re role of having a 'hill'...pity they have gone here

Jontyh wrote:I like the last one of Midge in his pie-delivery stride especially.

Aye. Chef looks as if he's well ready for a pie and is already in "smack it the boundary" mode.

Cheers for the pics, Trev. Noice work.

I still love the SCG, even though it has lost something in recent times.

The loss of the hill has really changed the ground. Even when they put seats in on the hill it still retained much of its character. There was a mix of old (the Members and Ladies), the new (the Brewongle and Churchill) and the open (the Hill).

Now it is a completely enclosed ground except for a tiny gap on top of the Dally M Stand. The hodgepodge of stands looked right when the ground was still a quarter open. Now that it's resembling a closed-in bowl the hodgepodge is jarring.

But it's still the right size for a cricket ground. The MCG is awe-inspiring, especially when packed to near capacity, but it's just too damn big for cricket. And I find the 'Gabba sterile and bland. I love being able to look up and see those two old green stands at the SCG. I wish the Trust would take a leaf out of American baseball's book (and what Adelaide did with the Bradman Stand) and make their next tranch of redevelopment 'retro' ie. designing the new stands with facades that match the older pavilions.

But it's still an amazing ground when the atmosphere pumps through it. Unfortunately this year's test match resembled a wake - it really did the ground a disservice.

This isn't the best photo, but it shows the old Showground in the background on the left. I vividly associate the stairs on the side of the Showground with the SCG.

But you can't see them now - they're blocked out by the new Trumper Stand. It's a shame.

I am almost certainly in that first picture there. We were in the Ladies' concourse.

Good job Trev.

JGK wrote:I am almost certainly in that first picture there. We were in the Ladies' concourse.

Were you wearing a tight skirt with an uplift bra?

Some of my own pics from the Victor Trumper stand