Melbourne Cricket Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia.[citation needed]
The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a power given to it by the government-appointed MCG Trust and an Act of Parliament. This also guarantees the club's occupation of about 20 per cent of the stadium for its Members Reserve.
In 1859, the MCC was involved in the drafting of the first set of rules for Australian rules football, and in 1877 hosted the first game of Test cricket in history - played between Australia and England. In 1971, the ground hosted the first One Day International cricket match.
As well as cricket, the MCC is also an umbrella organisation for other sports - golf, lacrosse, baseball, tennis, lawn bowls, real tennis, shooting, field hockey, and squash.
[edit] Membership
The MCC has the biggest membership of any sporting club in Australia, with more than 95,000 members. There are approximately 165,000 people on the waiting list.
[edit] Cricket "Team of the Century"
On December 1, 1999, the MCC announced its cricket team of the century, with all players who had played at least one season for the club since 1906-07 being eligible for selection. The team as selected was:
- Bill Ponsford
- Colin McDonald
- Dean Jones
- Hunter Hendry
- Paul Sheahan
- Warwick Armstrong (Captain)
- Hugh Trumble
- Robert Templeton
- Max Walker
- Hans Ebeling
- Bert Ironmonger
- Vernon Ransford (12th Man)
All members of the team of the century but Robert Templeton had played at least one Test match for the Australian cricket team.
