Published: Feb 25, 2015, 01:35 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 25, 2015, 03:22 PM (IST)
Walking into the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground in Perth, one can sense their pride in history. Most of the greats of Western Australia cricket have been remembered and honoured in some way at this venue. Nishad Pai Vaidya finds out of about the iconic scoreboard that unfailingly puts up the Western Australia Team of the Century after every game.ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: POINTS TABLE
When you enter the WACA Ground in Perth, you can sense their enormous pride in history. At every point, you would see a mark or two that reminds you of one of their greats. The Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) has made great efforts to document the contributions of some of their best players of yesteryear. You walk around the ground, and you would see the boards of the Lillee-Marsh stand or the John Inverarity Stand. You walk in from Gate 2 and there is a water refilling station that has a board that reads, “This is the water that Langer and co. grew up on.”
But, the most striking feature of the WACA on non match days is the scoreboard. It has the Western Australia team of the century comprising: Geoff Marsh, Graeme Wood, Justin Langer, John Inverarity, Kim Hughes, Barry Shepherd, Tom Moody, Bruce Yardley, Graham aka Garth McKenzie, Dennis Lilee, Rod Marsh (wk) and Terry Alderman (12th man). This line-up is always on the scoreboard on on-match days and is a tradition that is followed without fail. Located at the southern side of the ground, towards the river, and beams the pride of Western Australia in these players. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: SCHEDULE & MATCH DETAILS
“We change it to the team of the century after every game. We do this so that everyone knows about it and people remember their contributions to Western Australia cricket,” said one of the ground officials. The scoreboard is behind the grass mounds and can be seen from all corners of the ground. There also is a WACA museum near the administration office and documents the players’ contributions and its rich history.ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
The team has a fantastic make-up. Geoff Marsh and Wood are the two openers with Langer being the No. 3 batsman. Inverarity, Hughes, Shepherd and Moody form a solid middle order with Rod Marsh being the wicketkeeper. Bruce Yardley is the spinner in the side and they have a great fast bowling pair in Lillee and McKenzie. Alderman was named as the 12th man here. All the players in this team have represented Australia in Test cricket. Langer and Lillee stand out as the some of the greats of international cricket.
Most grounds in Australia have documented their history and that of their players. To walk through the aisles, one can sense their pride in what has been achieved in the past, and with that in the backdrop, they look forward to the future.
(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_45)
