Explore Carrara Oval, Gold Coast – the first ground outside Brisbane to host first-class cricket in 1990-91. Famous for the Tiger Moth fly-by match, it features an MCG-sized outfield and international-standard floodlights.
Carrara Oval, located in Gold Coast, Queensland, holds a unique place in Australian cricket history. It became the first ground outside Brisbane to host a first-class match in the 1990-91 season, when Queensland faced an England XI. The game is famously remembered for David Gower and John Morris’s Tiger Moth fly-by, an unforgettable moment in cricket folklore.
History and Features
- Carrara Oval is situated just three miles from the Pacific Ocean, offering a calm and scenic setting.
- The outfield is the same size as the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), making it a world-class playing surface.
- The stadium is equipped with powerful floodlights, comparable to those of any major international cricket venue.
Cricket and Other Sports
- Despite hosting the England XI match in 1990-91 and two subsequent One-Day Internationals, poor attendance numbers limited cricket’s future at the venue.
- Primarily designed as an Australian rules football stadium, Carrara Oval’s role as a cricket venue was short-lived.
- By 1992, the experiment of hosting cricket matches here was dropped due to lack of crowd support.
Present Significance
Today, Carrara Oval is mainly used for football and multi-sport events, but it still retains a historic status in cricket for being the first venue outside Brisbane to stage first-class cricket.
