WACA Ground
The WACA is the commonly used name to describe the sports ground in Perth, Western Australia as well as its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association. It is the home of the Western Warriors. Membership is currently around 7,000.
The Ground The ground is used primarily for cricket, however in recent years financial pressures have encouraged its use for other events such as Soccer, Rugby, Australian Rules Football and Music Concerts. The ground is fully lit for night events.
History
The Association was officially established on November 25 1885 under the Presidency of Mr JCH James. The WACA Ground was officially opened in 1893 and the first match played on the turf wickets in February 1894. The Association has freehold title to the ground. Originally the title was for 29 acres (117,000 m²), however part was sold to the Trotting Association in the early 1920s. Recent cricket highlights Australia's Matthew Hayden scoring a then Test-record 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003. During the second session of the second day, he and Adam Gilchrist both scored a century in a session. Australia's Glenn McGrath taking a Test hat-trick, dismissing the West Indian batsmen Sherwin Campbell, Brian Lara, and then-captain Jimmy Adams, taking his 300th Test wicket in the process (Lara), after publicly announcing that it he would like Lara to be his 300th scalp. The Western Warriors defeating the Queensland Bulls in the final of the 1999/2000 Australian one day domestic competition. WA batted first and made 301; Queensland then raced to 1/202 in the 30th over, only to collapse to be all out for 256 in the 46th over. The Western Warriors defeating KwaZulu-Natal in the Champions Cup one-day tournament in 2000/01. Australia's Mark Waugh lofting a delivery from New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori onto the roof of the Lillee-Marsh stand at the southern end of the ground in 1997/98. Dennis Lillee's incident in 1979 where he used an aluminium bat. The "miracle match" in 1976/77 (semi final of the Gillette Cup domestic one day competition) where Western Australia were bowled out by Queensland for 77, only to then restrict Queensland to 62. WA then narrowly won the final against Victoria. On January 12 2005, it hosted Australia's first Twenty20 match, played between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers. It drew a sellout crowd of 20,700 - the largest seen at the ground for many years.
The Association The current President of the WACA is former Australia Test Cricketer, Dennis Lillee. The current Chief Executive Officer is another former Australian Test Cricketer Tony Dodemaide
See alsoList of Test cricket grounds
External linksWACA official Website
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