Editing Melbourne Cricket Ground (section)

===Highlights and lowlights===
The highest first class team score in history was posted at the MCG in the Boxing Day match against New South Wales in 1926–27. Victoria scored 1107 in two days, with [[Bill Ponsford]] scoring 352 and [[Jack Ryder (cricketer)|Jack Ryder]] scoring 295.

One of the most sensational incidents in Test cricket occurred at the MCG during the Melbourne test of the 1954–55 England tour of Australia. Big cracks had appeared in the pitch during a very hot Saturday's play and on the rest day Sunday, groundsman [[Jack House (footballer)|Jack House]] watered the pitch to close them up. This was illegal and the story was leaked by ''[[The Age]]'' newspaper. The teams agreed to finish the match and England won by 128 runs after [[Frank Tyson]] took 7 for 27 in the final innings.

An incident in the second Test of the 1960–61 series involved the [[West Indian cricket team|West Indies]] player [[Joe Solomon]] being given out after his hat fell on the stumps after being bowled at by [[Richie Benaud]]. The crowd sided with the West Indies over the Australians.

Not only was the first Test match played at the MCG, the first [[One Day International]] match was also played there, on 5 January 1971, between Australia and England. The match was played on what was originally scheduled to have been the fifth day of a Test match, but the Test was abandoned after the first three days were washed out.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Washout |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/150244.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924233521/http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/150244.html |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=30 August 2015 |publisher=ESPN Cricinfo}}</ref> Australia won the 40-over match by 5 wickets. The next ODI was played in August 1972, some 19 months later.<ref>List of ODI matches. [http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/ODIS/MISC/COMPLETE_LIST.html Cricinfo.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607184720/http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/ODIS/MISC/COMPLETE_LIST.html |date=7 June 2007 }}</ref>

In March 1977, a Centenary Test Match was held between Australia and England to mark the 100th anniversary of the first Test match. The match was the idea of former Australian bowler and MCC committee member Hans Ebeling who had been responsible for developing the cricket museum at the MCG. England's Derek Randall scored 174, Australia's Rod Marsh also got a century, Dennis Lillee took 11 wickets, and David Hookes, in his first Test, hit five fours in a row off England captain Tony Greig's bowling. Rick McCosker opened the batting for Australia and suffered a fractured jaw after being hit by a sharply rising delivery. He left the field but came back in the second innings with his head swathed in bandages. Australia won the match by 45 runs, exactly the same margin as the first Test in 1877.

[[File:MCG stands.jpg|thumb|left|The second day of the 2006 Boxing Day Test match]]
Another incident occurred on 1 February 1981 at the end of a one-day match between Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand, batting second, needed six runs off the last ball of the day to tie the game. Australian captain, Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor, who was bowling the last over, to [[Underarm bowling incident of 1981|send the last ball down underarm]] to prevent the New Zealand batsman, Brian McKechnie, from hitting the ball for six. Although not in the spirit of the game, an underarm delivery was quite legal, so long as the arm was kept straight. The Laws of cricket have since been changed to prevent such a thing happening again. The incident has long been a sore point between Australia and New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 March 2018 |title=Underarm bowling incident: What Trevor Chappell did in 1981 |url=https://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/cricket/2018/03/28/underarm-bowling-incident/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129194037/https://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/cricket/2018/03/28/underarm-bowling-incident/ |archive-date=29 January 2021 |access-date=25 January 2021}}</ref>

In February and March 1985 the [[Benson & Hedges]] [[World Championship of Cricket]] was played at the MCG, a [[One Day International]] tournament involving all of the then Test match playing countries to celebrate 150 years of the Australian state of [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]]. Some matches were also played at [[Sydney Cricket Ground]].

The MCG hosted the [[1992 Cricket World Cup]] Final between [[Pakistani cricket team|Pakistan]] and [[English cricket team|England]] with a crowd of more than 87,000. Pakistan won the match after an all-round performance by [[Wasim Akram]] who scored 33 runs and took 3 wickets to make Pakistan cricket world champions for the first and, to date, only time.

During the 1995 Boxing Day Test at the MCG, Australian umpire [[Darrell Hair]] called [[Sri Lankan cricket team|Sri Lankan]] spin bowler [[Muttiah Muralitharan]] for throwing the ball, rather than bowling it, seven times during the match.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 December 2020 |title='Drastic final step' that sparked cricket chaos |url=https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/muttiah-muralitharan-darrell-hair-no-balled-throwing-boxing-day-test-1995-australia-vs-sri-lanka/ac158934-43ef-4fde-b5d7-9ce0a05415ed |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127124209/https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/muttiah-muralitharan-darrell-hair-no-balled-throwing-boxing-day-test-1995-australia-vs-sri-lanka/ac158934-43ef-4fde-b5d7-9ce0a05415ed |archive-date=27 January 2021 |access-date=25 January 2021 |website=wwos.nine.com.au |language=en}}</ref> The other umpire did not call him once and this caused a controversy, although Muralitharan was later called for throwing by other umpires in different matches.

The MCG is known for its great atmosphere,{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} much of which is generated in the infamous [[Bay 13]], situated almost directly opposite to the members stand. In the late 1980s, the crowd at Bay 13 would often mimic the [[warming up|warm up]] [[Stretching#Stretching in preparation for a physical activity|stretches]] performed by [[Merv Hughes]]. In a 1999 One-Day International, the behaviour of Bay 13 was so bad that [[Shane Warne]], donning a helmet for protection, asked the crowd to settle down at the request of opposing England captain [[Alec Stewart]].

[[File:Cricket World Cup Final (16351625604).jpg|thumb|MCG during the [[2015 Cricket World Cup Final]] with 93,013 in attendance]]
The MCG hosted three pool games as part of the [[2015 ICC Cricket World Cup]] as well as a quarter-final, and then the final on 29 March. Australia comfortably defeated New Zealand by seven wickets in front of an Australian record cricket crowd of 93,013.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 March 2015 |title=ICC Cricket World Cup Final 2015 – the Grand Finale! |url=http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-world-cup/news/2015/features-and-specials/87569/icc-cricket-world-cup-final-2015-the-grand-finale |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032706/http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-world-cup/news/2015/features-and-specials/87569/icc-cricket-world-cup-final-2015-the-grand-finale |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=30 August 2015 |publisher=ICC}}</ref>

The [[2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Final]] was held on [[International Women's Day]] between Australia and India. Australia won by 85 runs in front of a record crowd for women's cricket of 86,174.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Attendance records for cricket matches at the MCG
! Number
! Teams
! Match type
! Attendance
! Date
|-
| 1
| Australia v [[New Zealand national cricket team|New Zealand]]
|[[2015 Cricket World Cup Final]] (ODI)
| 93,013
| 29 March 2015
|-
| 2
| Australia v [[England cricket team|England]]
|Test
| 91,112
| 26 December 2013
|-
| 3
| Australia v [[West Indies cricket team|West Indies]]
|Test
| 90,800
| 11 February 1961
|-
| 4
| [[India national cricket team|India]] v [[Pakistan national cricket team|Pakistan]]
|[[2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup#Group 2|2022 Men's T20 World Cup (Super 12)]]
| 90,293
| 23 October 2022
|-
|5
|Australia v England
|Test
|89,155
|26 December 2006
|-
|6
|Australia v England
|Test
|88,172
|26 December 2017
|-
|7
|Australia v England
|Test
|87,789
|4 January 1937
|-
|8
|Australia v India
|Test
|87,242
|26 December 2024
|-
|9
|England v [[Pakistan national cricket team|Pakistan]]
|[[1992 Cricket World Cup Final]] (ODI)
|87,182
|25 March 1992
|-
|10
|India v [[South Africa national cricket team|South Africa]]
|[[2015 Cricket World Cup]] Group match
|86,876 
|22 February 2015
|-
|11
|Australia v India
|[[2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Final]]
|86,174
|8 March 2020
|}