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The Sydney Cricket Ground – Part 3 – with Geoff Armstrong
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In this final episode dedicated to the evolution of the Sydney Cricket Ground in the nineteenth century, historian Geoff Armstrong discusses the building of the Ladies' Stand, the flurry of activity prior to the arrival of Andrew Stoddart's England XI in 1897-98 and what the future holds for the 'most beautiful ground in the world'.
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ABOUT GEOFF ARMSTRONG: Geoff is one of Australia’s leading sport writers and historians. His first book was A Century of Summers, the centenary history of the Sheffield Shield, released in 1992. Two years later, he co-authored The People’s Game, a history of Australia in international one-day cricket. He has co-written or edited several cricket titles on famous cricketers, including Steve Waugh, David Boon, Bob Simpson, Mike Whitney, Ian Healy and Ricky Ponting. His latest publication reflects the splendour of the SCG: a stunning two-volume account of the ground, titled, A Thing of Beauty: The Founding of the Sydney Cricket Ground. Copies are available in Australia via the Stoke Hill Press website (stokehillpress.com), Roger Page Cricket Books and by order from most specialist bookshops. In the UK, the books can be purchased from the cricket bookseller JW McKenzie (mckenzie-cricket.co.uk).
CREDITS: Presenter & Producer: Tom Ford
All music used in podcast comes from the University of California Santa Barbara’s remarkable collection of wax cylinder’s from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which are free to download and use. You can donate to the upkeep of these recordings via their website.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
In
The Emergence of Women's Rights in the 1890s
00:00:01
Speaker
the good old summertime, in the good old summertime. Concurrent to all these matters in the 1890s was the emergence of the pursuit of women's rights.
00:00:15
Speaker
Now,
The Significance of the Ladies' Stand at SCG
00:00:16
Speaker
considering all that, how did the beautiful ladies' stand come about and why? And what role does the ladies' stand still play today at the SCG?
00:00:27
Speaker
It's a wonderful structure, the ladies' den. It was built in 1896. But from long before that, the trustees sought to have ladies at the cricket, women at the cricket. Members
Encouraging Female Attendance at Cricket Matches
00:00:39
Speaker
were given two ladies' tickets.
00:00:41
Speaker
And I think that the... the visions of grandeur that the trustees had, they wanted the ladies to be out in front of the lawns, in front of the grandstand and the members' pavilion about during the plagues in play.
00:00:55
Speaker
they they they They wanted a similar ah ambience, if you like, to Flemington or Royal Ascot. Yes. And so ladies were encouraged to come to the ground. One of the the myths I discovered was that there is this feeling that ladies weren't allowed in the members' stand until Kerry Packer.
00:01:13
Speaker
put his foot down in 1978. But in
Myths and Realities of Women in the Members' Stand
00:01:16
Speaker
actual fact, women would most definitely in the, uh, in the members pavilion up to the end of the turn of the century, certainly up to 1896 when the ladies pavilion was built, when the members pavilion was, ah was built in 1886, the old pavilion, the original pavilion, which had been built in 1878, that became a ladies enclosure.
00:01:39
Speaker
And, uh, Some of Sydney's best restaurateurs were given control of the restaurant there, to again, to try and bring women to the matches. And I found, well, there's ah there's a photo in volume two of the book of the members pavilion in 1891-92 with many more women than men in the grandstand. So that myth that women weren't allowed in the ground.
00:02:04
Speaker
But at the same time, as sport became more popular, there's at the the Zimmerman cycling, the members' pavilion got overrun by women. And this is because the ladies' enclosure was full, so they all moved next door.
00:02:18
Speaker
And men, as soon as they came in, the gentlemen had to give up their seats, which they were upset about because they got their hours earlier to claim them. Yes. So the ladies' tent basically was a supply and demand thing.
00:02:30
Speaker
And so it was built in 1896 as part of a major building program right around the ground. ah And it was immediately very, very popular. And the women continued to go there.
The Evolution of Lady Membership at SCG
00:02:44
Speaker
And one of the more intriguing aspects to the Creight Grant story that I found concerned the first lady member.
00:02:52
Speaker
Because lady membership, women's membership wasn't introduced at the ground until 1974. Wow. wow But quite strangely, an advertisement appeared following, it was minuted that the advertisement would appear for like a special category or a new category of lady membership in 1896. Right.
00:03:13
Speaker
right In the minutes around November 1896, it's recorded number of members, single members, ah junior members, and it's got lady members, four.
00:03:26
Speaker
And then if you go to the SCG letter book, you can find a letter that Sidney Fowlin wrote to a woman named Louisa Morgan, who lived in Randwick and who was the wife of one of the principals of the Mount Morgan mine in Queensland.
00:03:42
Speaker
And it's a letter to from Sidney Fowlin saying, dear Mrs Morgan, congratulations on becoming a member. So in one sense, Louisa Morgan is the first lady member. But strangely, after that initial mention in the minutes that there's a lady member, that immediately goes away.
00:04:00
Speaker
But the category is advertised again in December. Hmm. And the like one lady member re-emerges for three or four months in the minute book before disappearing again. The concept of lady membership is not mentioned again, except for a letter 20-year-old woman named Dora Cohen wrote to Fairland in about August 1897, saying she wanted to become a member. And Sydney Fairland wrote back to and said, I'll see what I can do.
00:04:29
Speaker
then his follow-up letter was, sorry, I can't help you. Perhaps you can get in using your uncle's ladies ticket. So it's hard to know exactly what happened, but what it appears to me is that they flirted with the idea of lady membership and somebody ah higher up has basically stamped down and said, no, we're not having that. Yes.
00:04:50
Speaker
And but I wish I knew the answer, but it's a hundred percent true that it was advertised. It's a hundred percent true that it was minuted. And it's a hundred percent true that Louisa Morgan got sent a letter congratulating her on becoming a member, but it doesn't appear if the members register is to be believed that she ever actually became a member. And so then lady membership became something that wasn't introduced until 1974.
00:05:18
Speaker
Incredible. The entire history of that ah or membership could have been different had they allowed it, you know, just probably someone complained from higher up and they reverted back to the old way. Really interesting. um Part of it could be as simple as in the lead up to Stoddart's tour in 1897-98, there was a huge run on memberships. Yeah.
00:05:39
Speaker
And it could be that it was just, ah again, a pragmatic decision that we didn't need lady membership anymore. And they were looking for a way of, if you like, cutting back because they were almost at the point where they'd have to introduce a waiting list. yes The waiting list didn't come until 1920. But at the same time, at that time, the demand for membership was as as strong as it had ever been.
Developments and Enhancements at SCG in the Late 1800s
00:06:02
Speaker
Well, as um we near the end of this podcast, Jeff, I just want to touch on ah something you mentioned at the end of, or towards the end of Volume 2, which is, as you've been talking about, Andrew Stoddart's second tour, so his English side, which comes to Australia 1897-98. And talk how...
00:06:21
Speaker
and you talk about how him and his team would have just noticed a stark difference to the Sydney cricket ground in 1897 to when they were last there in 1895. You know, further additions to stands, ah there was an improved scoreboard, for example. So how much of what Stoddart and his team saw and were greeted by when they arrived at the Sydney cricket ground in 1897 still we see today?
00:06:50
Speaker
still is what we see today Yeah, in in the book, I've got the two panoramas from made from those two series, and it is quite amazing the level of the building work that went on in the course of that time. Just going around the ground, there's the ladies' pavilion, there's a smoker's stand at the northern end at the southern end where the Sheridan stand and the other Churchill stand sits.
00:07:16
Speaker
There was the Northern Pavilion at the northern end of the ground. There's the s SCG No. 2 was built in 1897. It was opened in 1897. The Bob Stand was built in 1895 on the eastern side of the ground. The two hills, the Paddo Hill and the and the Famous Hill on the northeastern southeastern corners, they they were built up in this time. As you said, Ned Gregory's scoreboard.
00:07:42
Speaker
It's the the bicycle track. It's just quite astonishing. This was all done. No government government money was used. Basically, the the revenue that was coming in from football and cycling and cricket and from other events, public schools, carnivals and the like, was enough to pay for all this development. And the thing about it all was, even if you didn't like the cycle track, all of this was done in a style that made the ground, as I said earlier, beautiful.
00:08:12
Speaker
And that was an adjective that was used often. And that's why the book is called a thing of beauty. I think the part of that was that Sydney, the ground had become the pride of Sydney. I
SCG's Historical Essence Amidst Modern Changes
00:08:23
Speaker
mean, when you think about it at that time, Sydney had two things that were the best in the world.
00:08:27
Speaker
They had the Harbor, which was a natural thing that God made. And they had the Sydney career ground, which was a beautiful thing that Philip Sheridan made. And Yeah, they wanted the elite of Sydney to come into the members reserve and they did.
00:08:43
Speaker
And the people out on the hill, they all felt they they were part of some sort of exclusive club. And that's the sort of thing I alluded to when I talked about the first time that I went. It was a very, very special place.
00:08:53
Speaker
And today we're left with just the members pavilion, which was built in 1886 and the ladies pavilion built 10 years later. um I think the ground has sadly has lost some of its beauty. It's not the same as what it was. And yet, if i Tom, if I could tell you one little story up at the Ashes test.
00:09:14
Speaker
the just-gone-ashes test when at the end of the test, they allowed the spectators onto the ground for the presentation. Yes. And I was there with a friend of mine from London, and we went out onto the ground, but not to watch the presentation. I said, come out here and stand here. And we stood at about the place where Gully would be if TB Cotter was charging in from the hill end.
00:09:35
Speaker
And we just imagined, and I said to David, my friend, Victor Trumper could have filled it here or Clem Hill or, dare I say it, WG. Mm-hmm. And then we turned around, and if you look into the members' stand and the ladies' stand, you can make out the faces. It's quite wonderful.
00:09:54
Speaker
And you can take yourself back to 1894. You can take yourself back to any time in the history of the great ground yeah and imagine that.
00:10:05
Speaker
what was going on. So you can walk over to cover and look into the grandstand. And if you were Sid Gregory and see your brothers and your sister and your father and his, and your uncle, they're all there. You could make out their faces in that sense. The career ground hasn't changed at all. It's still the beautiful ground that it was back then. And I'll never forget doing that. It was, ah it was, it was really very, very special.
00:10:29
Speaker
I bet it was. I've never actually stood on the SCG. I mean, I've been there many times. But, yeah, and I i think I've heard – well, you can really tell when you watch a broadcast, you see the you know batsmen, for example, when they score a century. I mean, they acknowledge people in the crowd very easily. It must be quite – something about the distance but also the you know the positioning of the members' ladies' stand must be something quite unique. to that ground and and makes it a very intimate, I think, experience and something we hope is not lost in the future. Australia
00:11:07
Speaker
will be there
00:11:28
Speaker
Well, Jeff, let's conclude with some pondering. i'm going to throw some questions at you because you've now written this magnificent history of the Sydney Cricket Ground in the 19th century.
00:11:43
Speaker
do you
Recognizing SCG's Contributors and Heritage
00:11:44
Speaker
think there is enough recognition of those early pioneers today? I think the ground does a reasonable job recognising its history. One thing that does great with me, and it's not the fault of the current people at all, was the decision made 40 years ago when they knocked down the Sheridan stand and replaced it with a new stand and named it after Clive Churchill, the great footballer.
00:12:06
Speaker
um Churchill was a great footballer. He might have been the greatest footballer Australia's ever produced. But that new stand should have remained the Sheridan stand. Because what Philip Sheridan did for the s SCG is unique. When he died in 1910, Victor Trumper called in the guiding spirit in making the Sydney Kierke ground the finest ground in the world.
00:12:28
Speaker
And Sheridan should still be remembered with his name after a stand. I mean, I think the ground administrators at the Kierke ground sort of half recognised that when they rebuilt the the two stands at the northern end of the ground, and they called them the Noble Stand and the Bradman Stand as the old stands have been named. I think that's really important. There's so many people you could name a grandstand after, but I think that it's a real shame that Sheridan is not recognized in that way.
00:12:59
Speaker
But at the same time, yeah, the ground with its Basil Sellers Sports Sculptures Project with the sculptures such as Daly Messenger and Fred Spofforth and Stan McCabe and Trevor Allen and Betty Cuthbert and Marlene Mathies and Johnny White, I think that's fantastic. Yes. ah They're reinstigating the Jack Marsh History Lecture, which is important.
00:13:20
Speaker
The Victor Trumper and Doug Walters displays in the Trumper stand that were have been introduced recently, if anyone's seen them, they're really, really good. And so the the ground, yeah, does look after its history. It's history pretty well. The wider game, ah I'm not so sure.
00:13:35
Speaker
i mentioned the Cricket Hall of Fame earlier. I think the recency the recency bias in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is um is horrible. The idea that Brett Lee would get into the Hall of Fame before Jack Gregory just fills me with sadness.
00:13:51
Speaker
but At the same time, mate, I listened to this podcast and I see a book like Simon Wild's book on Gilbert Jessup and I just treasure that. And I think we all should. Yes. Well, you're in a safe you're in a safe place here, Jeff. But it is interesting regarding the naming of stadiums because it is a lost thing these days. There would actually be a riot if a new stand was named after an administrator these days, but it was the done thing back in the day.
00:14:20
Speaker
i mean, the Adelaide Oval's got the Edwin Smith stand and, ah you know, it's such a shame that they knocked down the George Giffen stand. Bernard Wimpress is still angry about that, as he should be, I know.
00:14:33
Speaker
And as he puts it, it was the first stand in the world named after a sportsman, I think. But yeah, you know, when they knock down these stands and replace them, as you say, there is a recency bias. There's always a tendency to name it after more recent stars.
Balancing Tradition and Modernity at SCG
00:14:50
Speaker
I mean, I can sort of see it on both sides, but it's a shame that you lose something. Well, can't it. Yeah, I can too, and I'm historian and I'm going to fight for the old guys.
00:15:01
Speaker
Well, what do you think is the future of the Sydney cricket ground? And do you think its traditions and charms can withstand the powers of modernisation and commercialism?
00:15:12
Speaker
I think it's going to be very hard. ah what I would like the current administration at the cricket ground to do whenever they make a major decision is to stop and say to themselves, what would Philip Sheridan do?
00:15:28
Speaker
do they Do they know who Philip Sheridan is? Well, hopefully when they read my book, they will. Yes. i um But I really believe that because I think that Sheridan was this fantastic mix of traditionalist and pragmatist. He was a caring person. You could tell that by the way he supported junior cricket. You can see it by the way he supports his staff in in notes and in the s SCG archives. At the same time as being that caring person, he was also c incredibly hard-nosed. He was a a very shrewd diplomat.
00:16:03
Speaker
So he was made a life member at Lord's at a time when Australian... australian cricket administrators weren't that popular in England. So yeah, and I mentioned earlier that situation with the drop in pitch and I do think what would Sheridan do?
00:16:19
Speaker
and I am coming to the conclusion that we're reaching a stage where he would go the way of the drop in pitch. And that in itself is is really interesting because I think many other administrators at the cricket ground, some more modern than Sheridan would not think that way.
00:16:37
Speaker
Hmm. and i And I don't personally pretend to be an expert on the subject because I, i as you said earlier, I can see both sides of the case. um But ah in terms of constructing new grandstands, in terms of staging Bocelli concerts and the like,
00:16:56
Speaker
um Every decision needs to be looked at with that battle between pragmatism and traditional traditional sport to decide what is the best thing for the ground. But I do think we've reached the stage that the Members Pavilion and Ladies Pavilion have survived so long that while they're still standing, they will stay because they are part of the brand.
00:17:21
Speaker
and which is a very obviously a modern marketing term, but it is true that those two grandstands are part of the brand. It's the reason why the images of those two stands are on the cover of my two books because they're so much a part of the SCG story. Yes. And I remember hearing from Captain Andrew Flintoff when he came here with the English side in 06, 07, how I think he wrote about it in his tour book afterwards, how,
00:17:48
Speaker
He wasn't a fan of the Melbourne cricket ground at all because it had no charm. It was a coliseum. As spectacular as the Melbourne cricket ground is, you know, it's just, it could be anywhere in the world.
00:18:01
Speaker
Whereas I think cricket grounds need to hang on to their identity. and not be bullied into, i mean, God forbid the SCG ever sells its naming rights to, you know, a fast food joint or a um superhero franchise or something. yeah Hopefully there's things in place to make sure that never happens.
00:18:23
Speaker
happens. I mean, I opened the book, the volume one with a quote, I've always believed that this is the best cricket ground in the world, which was said by Sir Donald Bradman in 1973 at the opening of the Bradman stand. And I have no doubt that in terms of the mixture of quality of the pitches, the outfield, the stands, the ambience, the history, everything. In 1973, the
Comparing SCG and Adelaide Oval's Unique Characteristics
00:18:48
Speaker
Sydney Cricket Ground was the best cricket ground in the world. I will argue for that, no problem. Now, I'm not so sure.
00:18:56
Speaker
i was in Adelaide for the Ashes Test this year. That is quite a magnificent cricket stadium, sports stadium. They have done a remarkable job there in terms of combining old with new.
00:19:07
Speaker
it's it's In my view, it's quite wonderful. And the the create the Sydney Career Grounds um ambition should be to beat that. but Well, you know, the thing that Adelaide still has over Sydney is that they have the hill.
00:19:21
Speaker
And if Sydney still had a hill, which I've heard, i mean, I'd never experienced it, but I've heard from other people how some of their favourite memories are from the hill at the SCG. And i have many memories from the hill in Adelaide.
00:19:37
Speaker
And you can tell when you watch a test match in Adelaide, it is the place to be if you're into that sort of supporting. I know it's not for everyone, but it's it's ah it's an interesting discussion because I'm very passionate about maintaining cricket grounds without losing those traditions. watch Well, I did watch test cricket on the hill and it was quite a wonderful place to be.
00:19:59
Speaker
yeah grand Grand final day, rugby league grand final day on the hill was also a wonderful experience. I think, i think sadly, night cricket hurt the hill. Right. Because what that meant was that the, I don't think alcohol was ever a problem on the hill until night cricket.
00:20:16
Speaker
Yes. And then crowd control became that much trickier. Yes. I remember watching a yeah documentary on the ABC about World Series cricket and i I remember there was there was a news report from the time saying there was outrage when the Sydney cricket ground introduced a limit of two slabs per person. that's um Remarkable.
00:20:41
Speaker
Different times. the other thing about the hill, the hill was there for a long, long time. It was known as the hill in the early eighteen ninety s yes Even before it was built up to its final height.
00:20:52
Speaker
And the the atmosphere and the characters and the cricket knowledge, the sports knowledge on the hill yeah for all that time was quite remarkable. One thing I know as as a young person watching cricket and rugby league on the hill was they knew they knew what was going on.
00:21:08
Speaker
yeah and And I'm sure that's not unique to Sydney, but it was ah very, very obvious in Sydney. One of those great photos I mentioned earlier, and I think this one is from 1891, might have been Lord Sheffield's tour. There's a great photo overlooking the hill and you can see people just perched there. You know, they've got their boater hats on and they're, you know, perfect position. They're looking onto the ground and in the background is, of course, you know, the beautiful um members and ladies stand. So, soon to be ladies stand, I should say. So, um Well, Jeff, thank you so much for being my guest on the podcast. It's been excellent to hear your thoughts. If anyone is listening, perhaps next time you either attend the Sydney Cricket Ground or watch a broadcast on television, you might have a greater appreciation for the evolution of the Cricket Ground. I will again encourage everyone to look into Jeff's latest publication, A Thing of Beauty, the founding of the Sydney Cricket Ground.
00:22:11
Speaker
I congratulate you again, Jeff, on an excellent two-volume publication. And, yeah, thanks again for being my guest. It's been very enjoyable. Tom, it's been fantastic. I appreciate your support and I appreciate what you do for Cricket History, mate. It's very important.
00:22:26
Speaker
It's all a bit of fun. Good stuff. Thanks, Jeff. And um that's all for today. My name is Tom Ford. Thanks for listening. And until next time, it is bye for now.