SCG's Noble Stand to get $60m face lift

I still prefer watching sport there than just about anywhere else qmy.

The Gabba's better. Bigger playing area and closer to the area of play. The SCG is great. Adelaide Oval is brilliant. The members stand at Marrara is awesome. I say again. The MCG is a croc sold to sentimental vomits.

The Gaba is now the ultimate concrete jungle. No character whatsoever. Test crowds there are disappointing as well. They should only play ODI's and T20's there and move more tests to Bellerive.

Bradman wrote:The Gabba's better.

Spoken like a true Billy...

It's a really good viewing ground. They just need the right fixtures.

Bradman wrote:It's a really good viewing ground. They just need the right fixtures and interstate visitors who like cricket the locals wont watch

fixed...the gabba is good to watch the cricket from...i would remove tests from the waca and transfer to the G first - before I would remove the gabba's status as a test venue...the wicket there is usually pretty good as well

Looking at the WACA, you wouldn't think that Perth is Australia's fastest growing City.

Henry wrote:Looking at the WACA, you wouldn't think that Perth is Australia's fastest growing City.

Its growth is neutralised by the backwardness of its population.

At the SCG, the Members and Ladies Stands are protected (thankfully from a visual point of view but both are pretty poor stands to watch cricket from.

The Noble/Bradman need to be rebuilt. The aspect is brilliant (it's where the commentators sit) so they need a stand to match.

Also, I am certain that they will retain their names. At the very least, I will get a vote on the new name as a member.

I don't think they're that lousy from a viewers point of view. They look stupid in amongst the concrete jungle, but maybe that's the problem of the various redevelopments. Plus I thought all the commentators boxes were in the Brewongle stand?

Bradman wrote:Plus I thought all the commentators boxes were in the Brewongle stand?

FPSML. That's perpendicular to the pitch, FFS. You are thinking AFLand Leeeeeg, qmy.

I can assure you, the Cricket comm boxes are dead set right behind the sightscreens in the middle of the Noble/Bradman Stands. My old man sledge Greigy many times as he walked up for his commentary stint.

JGK wrote:

The Noble/Bradman need to be rebuilt. The aspect is brilliant (it's where the commentators sit) so they need a stand to match.

.

On a Sunday afternoon it is however the coldest place on the continent.

skully wrote:

Bradman wrote:Plus I thought all the commentators boxes were in the Brewongle stand?

FPSML. That's perpendicular to the pitch, FFS. You are thinking AFLand Leeeeeg, qmy.

I can assure you, the Cricket comm boxes are dead set right behing the sightscreens in the middle of the Noble/Bradman Stands. My old man sledges Greigy many times as he walked up for his commentary stint.

Do you push people in wheelchairs downstairs?

He can't help it

What?

being dim

Maski. Sari tru. I hadn't been to the SCG for ages. Last ever NSWRL grand final from memory and I had a press pass. But yeah the Brewongle Stand is perpendicular.

I was watching a Rugby League documentary on tape (or hard drive to be specific) the other day and it had a wonderful colour aerial shot of the SCG in the 1960s.

I'd forgotten how green the place used to be. The Sheridan, the old Brewongle, and the Bob Stand were all kitted out in the same style as the Members and Ladies stands ie. green corrugated iron roofing with turrets or clock towers.

Combined with the Hill and the old scoreboard the place had an incredible amount of character.

Unfortunately, the renovations over the years have failed to pay tribute to this style. The best thing the SACA ever did was build the Bradman Stand with a red roof in a style similar to the John Creswell stand. I think it's a shame the current replacement of the George Giffen stand isn't doing the same thing.

Baseball in the United States has realised the folly of throwing away this character. "Retro" ballparks are all the rage. These are modern facilities built in the style of classic ballparks.

Perhaps the next round of renovations at the SCG in 20 to 30 years time will embrace this style.

The other thing I miss about the SCG is being able to see the stairs on the side of the adjacent showground.

For me those stairs were as iconic as the gasometer at The Oval.

I have all these vivid images of players scoring tries or taking catches against the backdrop of those stairs.

The Victor Trumper Stand is a wonderful stand and all, but its construction has virtually turned the place into an enclosed bowl. I suppose the rot really started when they put seats on the hill and built the Doug Walters Stand in front of the classic scoreboard... but at least you were still able to see part of those stairs.

Progress?

The SCG is a mish mash of 1800's, 1970's, and 2000's design.

At the moment the SCG is Frank Lloyd Wright on LSD.

Here are a couple of "retro" ballparks that have popped up in the US.

America had to experience a generation of cookie-cutter stadiums before they realised they were destroying the game's soul.

Camden Yards, Baltimore, opened in 1992



Citifield, New York, opened in 2009


These grounds are new and modern, but still feel right.

Shame that the names aren't Retro though.

That's the Seppos for you.

But it does help pay the bills.

Bradman wrote:The MCG is over-rated IMHO. It's a PR stunt that vomits swallow every year.

On Boxing Day you mean?