Gardens Oval

Gardens Oval (originally the Botanical Gardens Oval) is an Australian Football oval and cricket ground complex in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The complex has two ovals, the main one has spectator facilities including covered grandstands. Gardens No.1 Oval was the home of Northern Territory Football League prior to the opening of Marrara Oval. It is currently home to the Waratah Football Club which plays in the Northern Territory Football League competition.

Gardens Oval
Gardens Oval in 1972
Ground information
LocationDarwin, Australia
Establishment2002 (first recorded match)
CapacityUnknown
International information
First WODI21 July 2007:
 Australia v  New Zealand
Last WODI29 July 2007:
 Australia v  New Zealand
Only WT20I19 July 2007:
 Australia v  New Zealand
Team information
Waratah (NTFL) (1954-)
AFL Northern Territory / NTFL (1954-1990)
NT Thunder (NEAFL) (2010)
As of 7 September 2020
Source: Ground profile

History

Australian rules football has been played on the ground since the 1950s[1] the ground was being prepared as a purpose built venue for the sport as early as 1950 as a replacement for the ailing Darwin Oval.[2]

Soccer and rugby league were regularly played on the Oval from 1953.[3][4]

The first recorded cricket match on the ground came in 2002 when Northern Territory played Queensland Academy of Sport.[5] The ground held its only first-class match in 2006 when the touring Indians against New Zealand Whites.[6] In 2007, the ground played to four matches in the World Cricket League Division Three, a tournament for Associate members of the International Cricket Council.[5] The ground also held five Women's One Day Internationals between Australia Women and New Zealand Women in 2007, as well as a single Women's Twenty20 International between the same sides as part of the same series.[7]

In the early 1980s the NTFL played games against AFL teams as preseason warm up games. These games were the brain child of Kevin Sheedy the coach of Essendon AFL. These games played on Australian day each year lead to many indigenous players recruited to the AFL such as Michael Long.

References
  1. NT News
  2. "ATTENTION SPORTSMEN TOWN BOARD TO ACT ON PLAYING FIELDS". Northern Standard. Vol. 5, no. 223. Northern Territory, Australia. 8 September 1950. p. 9. Retrieved 23 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "GARDENS OVAL FOR SOCCER GAMES". Northern Standard. Vol. 8, no. 26. Northern Territory, Australia. 25 June 1953. p. 2. Retrieved 23 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Rugby League Starts On Sunday". Northern Standard. Vol. 8, no. 47. Northern Territory, Australia. 19 November 1953. p. 2. Retrieved 23 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Other matches played on Gardens Oval, Darwin". CricketArchive. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  6. "First-Class Matches played on Gardens Oval, Darwin". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  7. "Women's International Twenty-20 Matches played on Gardens Oval, Darwin". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
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