Bellerive Oval
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| Bellerive Oval | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Bellerive, Tasmania ( ) |
| Broke ground | 1913 |
| Opened | 1914 |
| Closed | N/A |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Owner | Clarence City Council |
| Operator | Tasmanian Cricket Assosition (TCA) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | Unknown |
| Architect | Various |
| Former names | None |
| Tenants | Tasmanian Devils, VFL Tasmanian Tigers, Cricket Clarence Roos, SFL |
| Capacity | 16,000 |
Bellerive Oval is a sports ground in Bellerive, eastern shore of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is best known as the home ground for the state cricket team, the Tasmanian Tigers, and as a host ground for international Test and one-day matches. Bellerive Oval is the only ground in Tasmania to host Test cricket. There are shortish square boundaries and long straight boundaries. Although the outfield is always a lovely lush dark green colour, the ball often races away to the boundaries.
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[edit] History
Football and cricket first started being played in the area where Bellerive Oval is now in the mid to late 1800s. In 1884 the first football match on record from the area was played between Carlton and Bellerive. In 1913 the piece of land located between the now Beach, Church and Derwent streets was sold to the Clarence council. 1 year later, the new Bellerive recreation ground was ready for use.
The ground barely changed from then until the mid '80s. During this time the ground had a hump in the centre of the ground made only the top half of players visible from the other side of the ground. There was a shed for players located where the main pavilion now stands. There was a hill on the outer (where the hill now is) that could accommodate two rows of vehicles, the small scoreboard stood on the outer close to where the electronic scoreboard is now, and the time clock sat about halfway up a training light tower. The police booth sat, until very recently, in the north-east corner of the oval. A concrete cricket pitch served for local junior teams until the 1956/57 season, when it was replaced by a turf wicket.
In 1948 The Clarence Football Club, a tennant of the ground, applied to join the Tasmanian Football League, and the ground had to upgrade to TFL standards.
Some minor upgrades were made in the 1960s, clubrooms were built in 1961, and in 1963 a small grandstand (seating about 500) and a new PA system were installed.
In 1977, Tasmania gained admission into the Sheffield Shield and a plan was put in place by the TCA to move from its headquarters at the TCA Ground on the Domain to a new oval. Bellerive Oval was chosen ahead of KGV Oval and North Hobart Oval. $2,200,000 was spent building new grandstands, training nets, a hill, new surface and centre wicket, the old TCA Ground scoreboard was relocated there, and the masterpiece - the three level Members' Pavilion was constructed. The newly refurbished ground was opened in 1986 for a TFL Statewide League roster match between Clarence and Hobart, 3562-people attended the match which saw a Clarence victory. However, significant damage to the newly laid turf which saw an enormous amounts of divets in the playing surface, no more football matches were scheduled at the ground for the remainder of the 1986 TFL season. The move was made in 1987 under TCA Chairman Denis Rogers, in time for its first international match - between Sri Lanka and New Zealand on January 12, 1988, before a crowd of 6,500.[1]
The first test match in Tasmania was played at Bellerive from the 16th-20th of December, 1989, between Australia and Sri Lanka.[2][3] Shortly afterwards, the new electronic scoreboard and Northern Stand was erected.
In 2007, Bellerive Oval was the ground at which the Tasmanian Tigers won their inaugeral Pura Cup. And in 2008 the ground will host its first Ford Ranger Cup final, after the Tigers finished on top of the table.
[edit] Redevelopment
In 1999 came the announcement that the Federal Government would give $5 million dollars to the upgrading of Bellerive. The TCA added an extra $10 million to upgrade on loan from the state government, and the Clarence City Council an extra 1 million dollars for a massive $16 million upgrade. The first part of this upgrade was the state-of-the-art indoor nets. The 6,000 seater Southern Stand came next, which blocked winds and views of the Derwent, and contained the new media centre. The new Members' Area was the last of the upgrades, along with new perimeter fence and entry gates. The Members' Area features press and radio media areas, corporate boxes and lunchrooms, as well as the players areas, member's bars and TCA offices. The redevelopment was officially opened on January 11, 2003, when an overcrowd of 16,719 (official capacity 16000) witnessed a thrilling one day match between Australia and the old foes England, with Australia winning in a thriller. Tasmanian Tiger Shane Watson became the hero for Australia, bowling the very tense final over. Nowadays the spacious hill is the most popular seating areas in the ground, mainly because usually it's one of the cheapest areas. The Southern Stand is the most expensive stand to sit in.
[edit] Football at Bellerive
As well as being the home of domestic and international cricket and the Clarence Football Club in the now SFL, Bellerive Oval served in 2003 as a home to the Tasmanian Devils in the VFL. The first match attracted the highest VFL roster match crowd since 1986 - 6,970. The venue also hosted Tasmania's two finals matches, with the elimination win against Geelong (4,800) and the massive 10,073 for the semi final against Port Melbourne, which the Devils lost after squandering a 23 point lead at three quarter time.
The problem with Bellerive becoming an AFL venue is that because it's right next to houses, it can't put in light towers. It also can't build a large stand in any areas other than where the Derwent River is.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Sri Lanka v New Zealand Benson & Hedges World Series Cup 12 January 1987/88 (2006) Cricinfo
- ^ 2nd Test Australia v Sri Lanka 16th-20th December 1989 (2006) Cricinfo
- ^ Bellerive Oval Profile (2006) Cricinfo
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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