Bellerive Oval Cricket Ground

The Bellerive Oval cricket ground> is situated in City of Clarence, Tasmania, Australia. This ground is located on the eastern shore of Derwent River and is administered by the Clarence City Council. It is home for the “Tasmanian Cricket Association (TCA)” an administrative body of Australian Cricket teams. This ground is the only venue for holding the international cricket in Tasmania, Australia. The Bellerive Oval cricket ground was formally opened for cricket in 1914, which later on became the Hobart’s first class cricket headquarters in 1987-88 season. This ground had a capacity of 16,200 people after renovation. The ground witnessed the maximum record of audience with more than 16,719 in the year 2009 for one day international match held between the teams of Australia and England.

About the Ground

The Bellerive Oval ground is a centre for sport in Clarence city since 1920s and famous for football and cricket matches. The Clarence City Council is owner of the ground and has a capacity to accommodate around 16,000 people. The dimension of the ground is oval similar to those of the MCG.

The ground witnessed several domestic and International cricket matches till date. In the year 1989, the first cricket test match was played between the Australian and the Sri Lankan cricket team in Tasmania from 16th to 20th December. The first international One Day International match was played between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Bellerive on 12 January 1988 and there were a record crowd 6,180. Again on 14 January 2003, Bellerive Oval witnessed the record audience of 16,719 for One Day International match held between Australia and England. The first day- night cricket Twenty20 International match was played between Australia and the West Indies on 21 February 2010 witnessed by 15,575 people. The third test match of Pakistan and Australia 2009/10 was played where Australia won the match by 231. In the year the year 2007, Tasmanian Tiger won the Pura Cup and in the year 2008, the first Ford Ranger cup final was played on the ground where Tasmania defeated Victoria by 1 wicket.

History =

From mid 1800 to late 1800s the ground was used for playing cricket and football. In the initial years the first football match was played between Carlton and Bellerive. In the year 1913 the ground was sold to Clarence council in the year 1948 The Clarence Football Club had taken the ground on lease applied for Tasmanian Football League and the ground upgraded to TFL standards.

Minor changes in the ground took place since 1960. In 1961 clubrooms were built, whereas in 1963 a grandstand to increase seating capacity by 500 was initiated. In the year 1977 Tasmanian Cricket Association’s headquarter was moved to Bellerive Oval. The same year ground has granted 2,200,000 dollars to build grandstands, training nets, a hill, new surface and centre wicket. In the year 1999 the Federal Government had announced to grant 5 million dollars for up-gradation, TCA has added 10 million dollars to upgrade the loan; Clarence City Council has also added extra 1 million dollars. The process of renovation ultimately started in 1999 and ended in 2002.