The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is an Australian sporting club based at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1838, it is one of Australia's oldest sporting organisations and has played a prominent role in the development of cricket, Australian rules football and organised sport in Australia. It's membership numbers more than 155,000.
The club has managed the MCG since 1853, when it was granted occupancy of the present site, and has been responsible for much of the ground's subsequent development. While the MCG is overseen by the government-appointed Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust, its management is vested in the MCC under an agreement extending to 2042.
Although established as a cricket club, the MCC developed into a multi-sport organisation and today incorporates sporting sections in baseball, bowls, cricket, croquet, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, netball, real tennis, squash, target shooting and tennis; the Melbourne Football Club is also a sporting section of the club. The club fields teams in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition with its First XI being the most successful team winning 22 premierships.
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the MCC was a major administrator and promoter of cricket in Australia, organising intercolonial and international matches and tours and hosting the first Test match in 1877. The club and its members also played an important role in the early development of Australian rules football, with the first codified rules of the Melbourne Football Club being drawn up in 1859 and matches under those rules subsequently played at the MCG.
History
Foundations and early years The Melbourne Cricket Club was established in 1838 three years after the founding of Melbourne. On 15 November five men: Frederick Powlett, Robert Russell, George Brunswick Smyth and brothers Alfred and Charles Mundy, met to establish the club. The first cricket match occurred a week later in an open field at what is today the site of the Royal Mint.
The club initially played at several locations around the young settlement, including near Batman's Hill and later on the southern bank of the Yarra River. In 1839 it had 20 members and Powlett was elected the inaugural President in 1841.
In 1846 it was reorganised as a permanent year-round club, rather than suspending its activities during winter. The term Melbourne Cricket Ground was first used during this period for the club's then ground south of the Yarra.
In 1853, the construction of the first railway line to Sandridge divided the cricket ground. The MCC was granted use of land in Yarra Park where a new cricket ground was established, which became the present-day Melbourne Cricket Ground. The First Members Pavillion was erected in 1854 and the first match on the ground was played amongst members on 30th September. The MCC has occupied and managed the ground since that time.
Development of Australian cricket During the nineteenth century the MCC became one of the principal organisations responsible for the development and administration of cricket in Victoria. In 1851 it played the first 'first class' cricket match in Australia and the first inter-colonial match under the name 'Port Phillip' against Van Diemen's Land in Launceston. In 1856, it issued a challenge to cricketers throughout the Australian colonies, resulting in an intercolonial match between Victoria and New South Wales at the MCG. Such matches were predecessors of the later Sheffield Shield competition.
The MCC also played an important role in the development of international cricket in Australia. It was involved in organising and financing tours by English teams to Australia and Australian teams to England during the nineteenth century. The MCG hosted the first Test match, between Australia and England, in March 1877, establishing the ground as one of the principal venues of international cricket.
The club's administrative role in Victorian cricket gradually diminished following the establishment and growth of the Victorian Cricket Association, which assumed responsibility for the administration of the game in the state in the early twentieth century. The MCC nevertheless continued to field its own cricket teams.
Expansion beyond cricket Although established as a cricket club, the MCC developed into a broader sporting organisation during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
MCC members played an important role in the early development of Australian rules football. When Tom Wills wrote his 1858 letter proposing that cricketers form a football club to maintain their fitness during winter, he was serving as secretary of the MCC. Wills and several other MCC members subsequently helped establish the Melbourne Football Club and codified its first rules in 1859. The MCC assumed control of the football club in 1890, and Melbourne remained part of the MCC until becoming a separately incorporated entity in 1980. The football club rejoined the MCC as an affiliated sporting section in 2009.
The MCC also promoted a range of other sports. It opened a bowling green on Punt Road in 1865, while tennis courts were established at the MCG in 1879 and baseball was played at the ground during the 1880s. Bowling greens were constructed at the MCG in 1894. Other sporting sections were subsequently established or affiliated with the club, including lacrosse in 1896, rifle shooting in 1900 and hockey in 1961. Squash courts were added to the MCG in 1968.
Development of the MCG
The MCC has been the principal manager and developer of the Melbourne Cricket Ground for almost its entire existence. From 1853, the MCC effectively drove the MCG's physical development. It improved the playing surface and drainage, constructed pavilions and grandstands, and progressively expanded spectator facilities as attendances increased. The first Members Pavillion was constructed in 1853 with a seating capacity of 60. A more substantial edifice for the members was built in 1881. It was extended in 1886 at a cost of just under £6000 and demolished in 1927 to make way for the Third Members Pavilion, which was completed in 1928 at a cost of £60,000.In 1906 construction of a new grandstand began in the Members' Reserve adjascent to the Members Pavillion. It was known from 1912 as the Grey Smith Stand and was demolished in 1966 for the construction of the Ponsford Stand. In late 2002 the Members Pavillion, Ponsford Stand and Olympic Stands were progressively demolished with the completion of a new continous section completed for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
For much of its history, the MCC financed the MCG’s public grandstands through members’ subscriptions including the first Grandstand built in 1876. The 1956 Olympic Stand was an exception: the Victorian Government advanced £100,000 towards its construction, while the MCC increased membership to help meet the cost. Larger redevelopments required borrowing and government support. The MCC financed the $150 million Great Southern Stand, completed in 1992, with borrowings guaranteed by the Victorian Government. The 2006 redevelopment of the ground’s northern side was supported by $77 million in state grants and a government-guaranteed loan facility to the MCC.
Membership The MCC is the largest sporting club in Australia consisting of more than 155,000 members and approximately 118,000 on the waiting list to join. Membership numbers of the club have increased substantially throughout time from 20 full members in 1839 to 204 in 1858, 1,500 in 1881, 9,800 in 1956, and 57,000 in 2006.
Membership is divided into several categories, principally Provisional, Restricted and Full membership, with access rights increasing at each level. Provisional members have limited access to major events, while Restricted members may attend most AFL and cricket matches in the Members Reserve. Full members receive access to all AFL matches at the MCG (including the AFL Grand Final) as well as international and domestic cricket (including the Boxing Day Test).
Prospective members must be nominated by two existing Full members before joining the waiting list. Admission is highly competitive and progression through the membership categories can take many years. For the 2026–27 season, candidates nominated between May 2009 and March 2010 were offered Provisional membership, while members originally nominated in 1994 were being elevated to Full membership.
Members also have access to the club's dining facilities, sporting sections, special-interest groups and reciprocal arrangements with other sporting clubs in Australia and overseas. Members reaching 50 years receive a distinct membership status, dedicated seating and access to special functions, including an annual 50-Year Member luncheon.
For most of its history, MCC membership was restricted to men. Women were first admitted as members in 1984, following changes to the club's rules. Women's participation in MCC sport subsequently expanded, with women's teams established across several sporting sections, including cricket.
Reciprocal clubs Members of the MCC are able to access the members' area of reciprocal clubs, typically while on a short visit to the area. These benefits, with the exclusion of the VRC and Docklands Stadium, are reserved for full members. These clubs include:
Docklands Stadium Axcess One, Melbourne Victoria Racing Club (VRC), Melbourne Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Brisbane Cricket Ground Trust (Gabba), Brisbane South Australian Cricket Association (Adelaide Oval), Adelaide West Australian Cricket Association (WACA Ground), Perth Tasmanian Cricket Association (Bellerive Oval), Hobart
Also other overseas grounds, including the Singapore and Hong Kong Cricket Clubs, the Cricket Club of India and the Marylebone Cricket Club (Lord's).
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Management In addition to administering the club and its sporting sections, the MCC acts as manager of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Yarra Park on behalf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust. The Trust meets bi-monthly to discuss general policy on ground management and development. All trustees are State Government nominees. The Hon Steve Bracks is its current Chair. This dual role gives the MCC responsibilities both as a private membership organisation and as the manager of a major public sporting venue. The current agreement between the MCC and the MCG Trust expires in 2042.
Members' Reserve The MCC Members' Reserve is a designated area of the MCG reserved primarily for MCC members and their guests. It occupies part of the northern side of the stadium and includes seating, dining rooms, bars and other member facilities. It is distinguished from other sections of the ground by its green coloured seating. The Members' Reserve has been a feature of the MCG for much of its history and has expanded and changed substantially through successive redevelopments of the ground.
Access to the reserve varies according to membership category and event. Full members generally receive the broadest access, including to major cricket matches and AFL fixtures, while other membership categories are subject to additional restrictions. The reserve operates under its own dress and behavioural standards and is one of the principal benefits associated with MCC membership.
The Members' Reserve is accessed through Gate 2 of the MCG and the Cordner Entrance, named in honour of former MCC President, Melbourne Football Club Premiership Captain and Brownlow Medallist Don Cordner.
Club traditions
Club colours