As the Melbourne Cricket Club celebrates its 184th birthday today, we’re taking a trip down memory lane to look at 10 key moments in the Club’s history.
1. November 15, 1838 – the earliest dated record inferring the Club was establishedWhilst the precise date that the MCC was founded is not known, the traditional birth date of the Club falls on this date. The date, November 15, 1838, was on a receipt for ‘two bats, balls and stumps’ purchased by Donald Gordon McArthur. Whilst the receipt doesn’t necessarily mean the Club was founded on that day – it could have been any date from August to November – the receipt for the cricket equipment along with an undated list of names and moneys paid – suggests that by November 15, 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club was in existence.
2. November 1, 1841 – the earliest known date for Club officials
November 1, 1841 is the earliest known date for positions of MCC President and MCC Secretary (now known as the CEO). The President was Frederick Armand Powlett – regarded as one of the five traditional founders of the Club, and the Secretary was George Cavenagh – a newspaper publisher. Powlett held the office of President from 1841 to 1843 and again in 1850, whilst Cavenagh was Secretary until 1843.
3. September 23, 1853 – the MCG was born
The occupancy of the current site of the MCG was granted to the MCC. The MCC played at a number of different locations prior to arriving at the site we know today – on the Old Mint site in William Street, at the foot of Batman’s Hill (now where Spencer Street Railway Station is) and on the southern bank of the Yarra River (near to the current Crown site). A Members’ Pavilion was erected later that year, and the first cricket match at the site was played on September 30, 1854.
4. February 11, 1864 – red, white and blue
The MCC Committee’s minutes of February 11, 1864, read “…it was resolved that the uniform of the Club shall be a white flannel shirt and trousers; and a ribbon of the Club colours, red, white and blue to be worn on the hat or cap. Mr Younghusband undertook to procure the ribbon from England, also a belt of the Club Colours.” The colours are still used today – with our MCG Tour Guides still adorning a blazer and Sporting Sections uniforms still sporting these colours.
5. September 6, 1873 – the MCC Library was founded
With the donation of 10 years of The Australasian to the MCC, the MCC Library collection was founded. Now one of the most comprehensive and varied collections of sporting books and ephemera in the world, the MCC Library is now a facility for reference and research.
6. March 15, 1877 – the birth of Test cricket
The first day of what would become known as the first ever Test match was played at the MCG on March 15, 1877. The match – between Australia and England – lasted five days and saw Australia win by 45 runs. One hundred years later, the MCG hosted the Centenary Test, which again saw Australia defeat England by 45 runs. The MCC was a sponsor of a number of tours to and from England throughout the late 1800s and earlier 1900s, along with the SCG Trust.
7. September 30, 1890 – the Albert Ground
On Tuesday September 30, 1890 the MCC’s cricketers began practicing at the Warehousemen’s Cricket Ground (renamed as the Albert Ground in November 1908) as a tenant Club. It was not just a venue for MCC cricketers, but a home for many of the MCC’s Sporting Sections, such as baseball from 1890, the Melbourne Football Club from 1891, tennis from 1892, lacrosse from 1896 and hockey from 1961.
8. 1969 - The opening of the MCC Museum
Whilst the MCC’s heritage collections date back to the establishment of the MCC Library, the MCC Museum opened shortly before August in 1969. The collection built upon memorabilia and items used to dress the various incarnations of the MCC Pavilion, but the new MCC Museum also had a dedicated gallery space to house a large donation of cricketana and memorabilia assembled by English curator, Anthony Baer. From here, the role of the MCC as an educator and preserver of Australian sports’ heritage has expanded through the establishment of Museum Tours in 1975/76, the Australian Gallery of Sport in 1986 and its successor, the Australian Sports Museum (formerly the National Sports Museum), the professionalisation of the MCC Library in 1989 and the formalisation of researcher access to the Club’s Archives in 2009.
9. April 1, 1984 – women were admitted as members
Since its foundation, the MCC had been a Gentlemen’s Club. Women were excluded from the MCC Members’ Pavilion for a number of years – even as a member’s guest. In order to attend the Members’ Pavilion women required a Ladies Ticket, given to male members so that they could have their wives accompany them. Yet such a ticket still excluded them from certain spaces in the Pavilion, including the Committee Room. Whilst some women had ventured into the MCC Members’ Dining Room/Long Room prior to 1984, these occasions were rare – such as for the 1938 MCC Centenary Ball and 1977 Centenary Test. Women could also enter these spaces when the MCC was not ground manager – such as during World War II and the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. In June 1983 it was determined that women should be able to be placed on the waiting list and a system was introduced that allowed for accepting female members from as early as April 1, 1984.
10. November, 1986 – the first of the Club’s Special Interest Groups was established
The first of the MCC’s non-sporting Special Interest Groups – the MCC Long Room Wine and Food Society – was formed in November 1986 by prominent MCC members who would meet regularly for lunch in the MCC Members’ Dining Room. Since then, a number of other non-sports related Special Interest Groups have been formed – the MCC Young Members’ group, the Military Veterans group, the Women of the MCC and the MCC Bridge Club.