Have you ever found yourself making excuses for someone close to you? Maybe your husband is a bit of a gossip. Perhaps your child can be prone to being a cry baby. Is your sibling a bit tight with the wallet? No? Me neither 😉
You make allowances and excuses for them, because you love them. Your person, whoever they are, contains multitudes and if the outside world cannot grasp those multitudes, then they can get stuffed.
Which brings me to the Sydney Cricket Ground.
We live in an era where stadium size and stadium newness are tied into a state vs state pissing contest. It’s reminiscent of the days of COVID case reports from state Premiers and the subsequent barbs that would fly around the internet after Dan Andrews wore a shot from Mark McGowan or vice versa.
WA has a gleaming craypot-inspired colosseum sponsored by the same telecommunications company that loves sport so much it just cancelled its own broadcast operation. Has anyone ever told you how Adelaide Oval has kept its heritage while evolving into a world class facility? Only every South Australian I’ve ever met.
Victorians may have mentioned the MCG. It’s really big, which is the most important thing. Queensland is going to host the OIympics when they’re getting a new stadium, for Queensland and Queenslanders.
Tassie is literally going to an election over their proposed new venue in Hobart. That’s how important it is. It needs a roof. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s not just so AFL bigwigs are warm, it’s so Coldplay can tour there. Think about that for a second. They’re getting a roof to attract Coldplay. That’s going to decide an election.
Everyone is in the arms race and everyone is ready to tell you the grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s browner. And back we come to the SCG. The beloved family member I’m always making excuses for.
People outside of Sydney feel passionately about this ground. It rains too much during the New Year’s Test. The camera angles don’t work for “footy” (AFL). The dimensions are wrong. Too small. Too round. The grandstands are old and tired. Not the ones that were finished in 2014. The other ones.
The final straw was the undeniably dire playing surface that hosted the Dogs/Swans game last Friday. Three months after an Andrea Bocelli concert the turf was in the worst possible shape and players tumbled left and right. The nation’s AFL media filled its boots from Melbourne to Perth.
Maybe it’s because lawn care has become a default personality for men who are lacking one of their own, but I found many people in my life who had strong opinions on the grass. Grow lamps. Heat mats. Rain bombs. Many experts offered much doom-casting on what was to come this weekend.
I’m here to tell you the truth, the SCG is indeed deeply flawed. It hasn’t had a good Test wicket in years. Last week’s surface was indeed unsafe. The Brewongle, O’Reilly, Trumper and Churchill stands are indeed ageing. And it’s still the most beautiful ground in the country.
When the sun sets behind the green grandstand roof on Sunday afternoon, casting shadows across the pitch, you’ll get a reminder that there is no more beautiful venue in Australia. Sure, it has a few wrinkles, but you get those from smiling.
