Sydney Cricket Ground SCG

Established more than 170 years ago, the Sydney Cricket Ground - or SCG for short - is one of the most historic sporting venues in the world, let alone in Australia. The SCG has of course changed a lot since those days and it is now a modern venue of which Australia can be proud.

The SCG will continue to be upgraded and expanded in the years to come, with plans to create a modern 'bowl' type facility, although the historic Members' and Ladies' pavilions will remain.

At the SCG, there are various statues and sculptures for attendees to enjoy. Among the sporting figures to be depicted at the SCG are Richie Benaud, Fred Spofforth and Steve Waugh.

Sydney Cricket Ground is the traditional ground for hosting New Year Tests involving Australia, while Twenty20 and ODI internationals are regularly held at the SCG as well. Australia beat India at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2019 to record their 1,000th international cricket win.

Like many other top sporting venues in Australia, the SCG has hosted more than just cricket. It held six State of Origin series games in the 1980s, with soccer and baseball also held here too.

Sydney Cricket Ground Pitch Report

The Sydney Cricket Ground pitch report shows the SCG has got one of the more spin-friendly surfaces in Australia. This is due to the fact that its foundations are mostly created from 'Bulli soil' that comes from Bulli, New South Wales. Like the Gabba, the SCG does not use a drop-in pitch, which makes it one of the more unusual cricket stadiums in the world at the present time.

The Australian spinner Stuart MacGill even referred to the SCG ground as "my house" due to its spin-friendly nature, while the great Shane Warne also particularly enjoyed bowling here.

Average first innings scores for T20 matches at the SCG are high. In 2023, the average score for a team batting first in a T20 game at the Sydney Cricket Ground was over 152, which was a slight decline on the two previous years. The average first innings score has been over 170 a couple of years, which shows that this can be a high-scoring ground for the Big Bash League.

Batting first in a T20 match at the SCG is a big advantage. Some 52.2% of teams batting first in a T20 match at the Sydney Cricket Ground win the match, with chasing teams coming out on top just 41.3% of the time. Slow bowlers have the highest economy rate in T20 games at the SCG according to data from cricmetric.com, while fast bowlers have some of the lowest averages. Pace bowlers therefore take their T20 wickets as cheaply as anyone at the SCG.

FAQs