Heritage listing for Melbourne Cricket Ground

MCG has been given Australia's highest heritage honour © Getty Images

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) has been included on the National Heritage List, Australia's highest heritage honour. The announcement was made by Peter Costello, the Federal Treasurer, during the lunch break on the first day of the Boxing Day cricket Test between Australia and South Africa at the MCG. Costello described the hallowed venue as the "spiritual home" of Australian Rules Football, and pointed out that it also had a long and proud cricketing tradition.

In 1853, lieutenant-governor LaTrobe granted 10 acres of what was then called the Police Paddock for a cricket oval. That paddock became the MCG, now regarded as one of the great sports stadium of the world. It has been the home ground of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) since 1853, and hosted the first interstate cricket match between the MCC and New South Wales in 1858. The MCG celebrated its 150th birthday in 2003, and was recently knocked down and re-built as a modern stadium for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.