Gone with the wind … the end of an era

Ric Finlay18-May-2005The TCA ground might not have satisfied everyone as a first-classvenue in recent years, but there must be an element of regretamong members that a 105-year occupation of a small piece of theQueen’s Domain is about to end, as far as inter-State andinternational cricket is concerned.The ground has had a fascinating history, and it seems appropriate to reflect on someof the events that it has witnessed in its time. As the Annual Report for 1981-82 revealed, the ground was opened in 1882 after the best part of ten years intermittent development. A gameagainst a Melbourne Cricket Club Eleven was arranged tocommemorate the event, the match ending in a particularly heavydefeat for the local Association. Tasmania, of course, haslearned to live with such reverses over the years, and in asimilar way, local administrators have had to accept the factthat the finances of the Association have not always allowed thedevelopment of the ground to proceed in a satisfactory way; manyof the Annual Reports often bemoaned the fact that variousprojects designed to improve the ground, even as basic aspainting and general maintenance, were not possible to implementbecause of the lack of funds.One of the early problems was the surface of the ground itself.Unsympathetically dry weather in those first few years resultedin the ground cutting up badly, allowing on one occasion EHButler to take 6 for 1 for the South against the North. Alliedto the this problem, which was only partially solved by importingmany yards of topsoil, was the one concerning the supply of waterto the ground. Initially, a windmill was tried, but this wasfound wanting, which might come as a surprise to the members ofthe 1979-80 English team, who had one day’s play abandonedbecause of a Force 10 gale in their match against Tasmania. Inthe 1885-86 season, the windmill was replaced by a hand-forcedpump system, which by definition seems to have been a ratherlabour-intensive device. Nevertheless no further complaints ofthe water supply reached the Annual Reports until after World WarOne, when a total prohibition of the use of water fornon-essential purposes resulted in the death of most of theground’s grass. Reference was made in 1947 to an improvement inthe water supply to the ground, but even so, the water pressurehas never been considered really satisfactory.The provision of suitable accommomdation for members and thepaying public has exercised the minds of many committees over theyears, and in its time, the ground has seen the coming and goingof many forms of seating. Curiously, two of the original standshave withstood the rigours of the elements and time, and surviveto the present day, albeit in modified form. The originalmembers’ stand was in place when the ground was opened in 1882,and in 1906, at a total cost of 1066/18/1, was pushed back toallow the construction of the brick structure at the front whichis familiar to all today as the HC Smith Stand. Gas was laid onat the same time as a concession to modernity;in 1926 electricitywas installed, the committee of the day expressing the hope thatthis would lead to sufficient lighting to allow “eveningtraining”. In 1940, the two ends of the stand were glassed in,but unfortunately the designers of this were inhibited by eithera lack of funds or imagination and failed to glass in the sidewhere it was really needed, namely, the front. In 1946, theoutside stairway on the southern side of the stand first gaveaccess to the top deck, and in 1950, the players’ viewing areasin the front of the dressing rooms were provided. The press,originally accommodated under the old scoreboard (which was builtin 1907), were relocated on the top deck of the stand in 1977,the year of Tasmania’s admission to the Sheffield Shield.The Ladies Stand was originally located on the southern side ofthe Members’ Stand, and was a slightly more grandiose affair thanit is now. In 1946, it was proposed to move it to its presentlocation, a scheme whose execution was accelerated by theintervention of the elements: a series of gales in May and June,1947 unroofed the structure, thus forcing the committee’s handsomewhat. A new cantilever roof was designed, but thenon-arrival of some of the materials meant that it was notcompleted until the 1948-49 season. The two concrete stands thatare now sited in its place were completed for the 1954-55 season,along with the entrance gates, turnstile houses and ticket boxes.The original turnstiles were acquired in 1885, more as a statussymbol than anything else, since the committee was moved to writein its Annual Report that “we have imported from England two ofNorton’s self-registering turnstiles, similar to those in use onthe Sydney Cricket Ground”! The suggested motivation for thepurchase is confirmed by the fact that they were not installedfor use for another five years.Up to World War One, the ground was more than just a cricketground. Two tennis courts (one grass, one asphalt) were openedwith the ground in 1882, and for many years, a memberschampionship was contested and faithfully reported in the AnnualReport. In 1887, the old pavilion that had been sited on theoriginal ground further down the hill, was dragged up to itspresent position and converted into a Skittle Alley for themembers’ pleasure. The novelty of this sport was evidentlyshortlived, for in 1898, it was then converted into changeroomsfor a cycling club. The latter group was originally catered forin 1891, when the committee were moved to report the expenditureof 46/14/0 on a new bicycle track, but added their “regret thatthey have not met with the good faith they expected from theRamblers’ Bicycle Club at whose request the work was undertaken -only three members of the Club have joined the Association of the15 who undertook the responsibility when negotiating with yourcommittee. “Football was tolerated at an early stage, despite this sportbeing the reason why the cricketers were keen to escape from theLower Ground in the first place. By the 1890s, winter Saturdayafternoons were taken up with baseball, and the 1896 AnnualReport announced that the “quoit pitch has been well patronisedon Wednesdays and Saturdays”. The ground even witnessed a”Japanese Sports Day” in 1902, on the occasion of the visit oftwo Japanese warships to Hobart. The gathering at the groundwere treated to the “novelty of Japanese wrestling, single-stickexecises (?) and other feats which proved very interesting to thepublic”. This was a year after, incidentally, the Association’sacquistion of a stone roller and a horse “with a view to economiclabour and making the work on the ground easier for the curator”.Bowls was the fad in the first decade of this century, and aconsiderable amount was spent on the bowling green and pavilionwhich were opened in November, 1911. The impending war, however,seemed to put a stop to all this frenetic activity and thingswere never quite the same afterwards. In 1932 the by-now disusedbowling green was converted into the present practice-wicketarea. The only other major sporting liaison since those far-offtimes has been with the Hobart Speed Coursing Club, which in 1935commenced a long and harmonious relationship with the cricketingfraternity. The greyhounds disappeared a few years ago, however,and now first class cricket is to follow suit. It is theAssociation’s hope that the ground can be retained for clubgames, but nonetheless, 1987 marks the end of an era for cricketin Hobart.