We’ve all be sitting on the couch, or in the grandstands, wondering ‘how many seats in this place?’
It’s brought up in pubs, group chats and even at the venues – what is the capacity of certain cricket grounds around Australia?
Let’s get some answers.
It’s common sports knowledge that the MCG can reach that illusive six figure mark of 100,000, but how many fanatics out there that can impress their mates by rattling off all the capacity numbers for each of Australia’s major cricket grounds?
With a jam-packed Australian summer of cricket heading our way, for both the men’s and women’s sides, supporters are expected to be out in force — filling up grounds across the nation.
It does vary city to city down under when it comes to cricket grounds and their capacity. So keeping that in mind, let’s count them down in order of size.
Australia’s largest cricket grounds, ranked by capacity
9. Manuka Oval (Canberra)
Capacity: 16,000
Cricket ground for: Sydney Thunder (BBL)
Record cricket attendance: 15,807 – Prime Minister’s XI v West Indies, 1985
8. Blundstone Arena (Hobart, Tasmania)
Capacity: 19,500
Cricket grounds for: Hobart Hurricanes (BBL) and Tasmanian Tigers
Record cricket attendance: 18,149 – Hobart Hurricanes v Perth Scorchers, 2016
7. Sydney Showground (Homebush, Sydney)
Capacity: 23,500
Cricket ground for: Sydney Thunder (BBL)
Record cricket attendance: 21,798 – Sydney Thunder v Sydney Sixers, 2016
6. Gabba (Brisbane)
Capacity: 36,000
Cricket grounds for: Brisbane Heat (BBL), Queensland Bulls and Australian Cricket team
Record cricket attendance: 39,874 – ODI: Australia v South Africa, 2006
5. Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
Capacity: 48,000
Cricket grounds for: Sydney Sixers (BBL), NSW Blues and Australian Cricket team
Record cricket attendance: 46,070 – Test Match (D1): Australia v England, 2007
4. Adelaide Oval
Capacity: 53,600
Cricket grounds for: Adelaide Strikers (BBL), South Australia Redbacks and Australian Cricket team
Record cricket attendance: 55,317 – Test Match (D1): Australia v England, 2017
3. Marvel Stadium (Docklands, Melbourne)
Capacity: 56,347
Cricket ground for: Melbourne Renegades (BBL)
Record cricket attendance: 44,316 – Melbourne Renegades v Melbourne Stars, 2018
2. Optus Stadium (Perth)
Capacity: 61,266
Cricket grounds for: Perth Scorches (BBL) and Australian Cricket team
Record cricket attendance: It’s undetermined what the record is but the 2022/23 BBL Final between the Scorches and Heat had an attendance of 53,886.
1. Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Capacity: 100,024
Cricket grounds for: Melbourne Stars (BBL), Victorian Bushrangers and Australian Cricket team
Record cricket attendance: 93,013 – ODI WC Final: Australia v New Zealand, 2015
