Stripped to the barest that is all to cricket, a ball and a bat. But a game that holds millions captive is something much more. Myths and legends have been built around it, friendships and enemies are made over a scoreboard. The mystic appeal of the pitch captivates Ranjita Biswas while visiting famous cricket grounds in Australia.

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It’s the end of waiting after four years. Once again cricket fever is set to grip the fans as the World Cup excitement froths to the brim. No less in focus are the cricket grounds where men in blues, greens or yellows aspire to hold up national pride. That brings to mind the legendary grounds like the Lord’s, Oval, Eden Gardens, etc. Without the players and spectators they look a bit lonely perhaps and for a visitor to the grounds it might be hard to imagine the excitement they exude when a game is on. But there are also instances when the ground is kept ‘alive’ even in times of ‘no-game’ through tours catered to sports enthusiasts thus giving them a glimpse of what goes on behind the scene, their history and their present.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Adelaide’s Oval in Australia, for example. Adelaide also has ‘The Bradman Collection’ museum giving a rare peek into the life and times of the great cricketer.

The pride that sports-lovers feel for the hallowed ground at MCG is palpable during a guided tour which can be availed of on non-events days. Managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, the tour is conducted by a volunteer, among 200 at present, of the Club. Statistics fly off at an astonishing speed, history of the ground unfolds with hardly a pause as the guide talks wittily and soon one can feel the atmosphere of the pitch catching up. Being a member of the Club is no mean feat. There are 97,000 members at the moment with awaiting list of 1,63,000.

The MCG that can seat 100,000 also hosted the 1956 Olympic Games and most recently, the 2006 Commonwealth Games, has many firsts to its credit. The world’s first full colour cricket scoreboard with instant replays; first electronic sight screens; first one-day international cricket match in 1971, among others. Football and rugby tournaments are also popular events held here. In fact, during the Crimean War it also had a shooting range. The ground, dubbed “The People’s Ground” also hosted the world’s first international cricket contest in 1862, and saw the first hat trick in the world in 1879.

The history of the MCG is fascinating. It was started in 1853 by five people when the 15-year old Melbourne Cricket Club was forced to move from its original site. Reason? Australia’s first steam train tracks were being laid and it was going to pass right through the oval.

Today, MCG is one of the best training grounds for an aspiring player. Even for a veteran, the facilities come in handy to practise for a tournament. There are pitches made to order to replicate pitches around the world’s cricketing countries. Even while preparing for day- and-night games, players can practise under conditions created to give a look- and feel-like ambience, say, for instance, the Eden Gardens. There are cameras to monitor the movements of the ball, fast or spin, to help the bowler. On a normal day, you might find Shane Warne, who lives in the neighbourhood, practising here, well till recently. Visitors could easily approach him for autographs, we were told, and he obliged quite happily.

Inside the stadium too, there are many interesting sidelights to enjoy. There is the Honour Board, for example, which lists luminaries of the cricketing world embossed on it. By scoring a century or taking five wickets in an innings, a player ensures that his name is added to it. One cannot feel but proud seeing names like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, etc. figuring alongside legends like Viv Richards, Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Frank Tyson, Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall among others. The tour also includes a peek into the well-equipped media room, both print and electronic —now you know from where you get the lowdown on the game, the changing rooms for the players and the ‘interview room’ where they face the media. In short, a veritable feast for the cricket aficionados.

Equally fascinating is the Australian cricket’s Hall of Fame housing some of the most important memorabilia in the history of cricket. This collection is soon to be shifted to the National Sports Museum funded by the government at the MCG. Its library houses around 100,000 books and journals going back to the past century, a treasure-trove for serious researchers in the field. Tours are conducted on non-event days between 10 am and 3 pm.

Adelaide’s pride, the Oval, is smaller than MCG with a capacity of about 34,000 but tucked between the Torrens lake and St Peter's Cathedral, it rightly deserves its epithet as one of the most beautiful and picturesque cricket grounds in the world. The turf is also the longest in the world. The first test match played here was against England in 1884 and the splendid old scoreboard dates back to Edwardian times. It now hosts cricket, football, rugby, athletics and concerts. Public tours of the Oval and Museum are conducted every Tuesday and Thursday and on Sundays during the cricket season.

Adelaide also offers an irresistible attraction to a cricket lover: The Bradman Collection in the State Library of South Australia. Bradman was not a native of Adelaide but settled down when offered a job and found the place conducive to raising his family. Today, the museum stands as a tribute to the great batsman displaying over one hundred items of Sir Donald’s personal and professional collection of cricket memorabilia which he donated. Bats used by Bradman at various times are on display including the one he used while scoring his 100th century in first-class cricket against who but India in November, 1947 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. There is also his famous Baggy Green Cap, given in 1948 while touring England. This is apparently a tradition that Australia continues, we were told, signifying excellence in the game. Obviously, it is highly coveted and is cherished by a player like an Oscar by an actor. Also on display is the Grundig TK 5 tape-recorder and microphone bought in London in 1948. For the next 40 years Bradman used it to record practice runs of his extremely entertaining speeches.

Tourists and fans making a beeline to these portals of great cricket traditions makes one realise that great sports grounds need not necessarily be active only during the games. They can also be lively, living entities. In the process they can be good revenue earners as well. A lesson that is well worth exploring perhaps by those who are yet to think in these lines.