The Showgrounds, Wangaratta

Showgrounds Oval
Ground information
Location Wangaratta, Australia
Establishment 1908 (first recorded cricket match)
Capacity 5,000
Team information
Victoria (1986, 1996, 2006)
As of 21 October 2011
Source: Ground profile

The Showgrounds Oval (also known as the Norm Minns Oval) is a cricket and football ground in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia.

The first recorded cricket match on the ground came when Wangaratta played the touring Fijians in 1908.[1] The ground held its first first-class match in 1986 when Victoria played Queensland in the Sheffield Shield. Ten years later a second first-class match was played there between Victoria and the West Indians.[2] A List A match was played there in the 2005/06 ING Cup between Victoria and New South Wales.[3]

The Showgrounds Oval serves as a football ground in the winter. It is the home ground of the Wangaratta Football Club, and is one of the Ovens & Murray Football League's main two venues, alongside Lavington Sports Ground, Albury.[4] The venue secured the rights to host five Australian Football League pre-season games between 2012 and 2021;[4] however, the first of those matches, to have been played between St Kilda and Essendon in 2012, was cancelled after Essendon's chartered flights were unable to land in or near Wangaratta due to flooding throughout northern Victoria.[5] The venue also hosted two matches in the 2005 Australian Football International Cup.[6]

The venue also has a bicycle track, and floodlighting suitable for night matches. The oval was renamed the Norm Minns Oval in honour of Norm Minns, who played in four consecutive O&MFL premierships with Wangaratta from 1949–52, won another O&MFL flag as captain-coach of Benalla in 1953, and went on to the committees and selection boards for both the Wangaratta and the O&MFL interleague teams.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Other matches played on Showgrounds Oval, Wangaratta". CricketArchive. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "First-Class Matches played on Showgrounds Oval, Wangaratta". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "List A Matches played on Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  4. 1 2 Johnstone, David (26 October 2011). "AFL footy feast for border fans". The Border Mail. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Lowther, Andrew (3 March 2012). "Dons, Saints game cancelled". Australian Football League. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "2005 International Cup - Fixtures/Results". The Footy Record. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "2005 Inductees". Sportingpulse. Retrieved 4 March 2012.

Coordinates: 36°20′47.12″S 146°18′53.98″E / 36.3464222°S 146.3149944°E / -36.3464222; 146.3149944

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