Melbourne Park was a
cricket ground
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by strikin ...
in
Kingston,
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. It was the home of
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia.
The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground ...
, the third-oldest cricket club in Jamaica. The ground hosted
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
on 23 occasions between 1908–09 and 1961-62. Melbourne Park's opening first-class match, in February 1909, saw
Ranji Hordern
Dr. Herbert Vivian Hordern (10 February 1883 – 17 June 1938), also known as Ranji Hordern, was an Australian cricketer who played in seven Test cricket, Test matches between 1911 and 1912. He was the first major leg-spin and googly bowler to p ...
, playing for the
Philadelphians
The Philadelphians, or the Philadelphian Society, were a 17th-century English dissenter group. They were organized around John Pordage (1607–1681), an Anglican priest from Bradfield, Berkshire, who had been ejected from his parish in 1655 beca ...
on their final overseas tour, take 8-44 in the
Jamaican first innings and 13-113 in the match; both remain records for the ground.
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley OD, MBE (30 May 1909 – 30 November 1983) was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before World War II. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for the West Indies and one of the greatest crick ...
performed some notable batting feats on this ground. Playing for Jamaica against
Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Go ...
's XI in February 1932, he struck 344
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
, at the time the highest innings made in the West Indies and a ground record.
Headley and
Clarence Passailaigue (261
*) put on an unbroken stand of 487 for the sixth wicket: this remains (as of 2007) a world record for that wicket.
The other two first-class double hundreds scored at Melbourne Park were both Headley's: 211 against Lord Tennyson's XI in 1927–28 and 203* against
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
in 1946–47.
In the 1960s, the Melbourne Cricket Club ceased using Melbourne Park, and moved to a new ground—Melbourne Oval—about 2 miles away in New Kingston. Melbourne Park no longer exists.
Records
First-class
* Highest team total: 702/5 declared by Jamaica v
Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Go ...
's XI, 1931–32
[Same match.]
* Lowest team total: 90 by
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
v Jamaica, 1958
* Highest individual innings: 344
* by
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley OD, MBE (30 May 1909 – 30 November 1983) was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before World War II. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for the West Indies and one of the greatest crick ...
, Jamaica v Lord Tennyson's XI, 1931–32
* Best bowling in an innings: 8–44 by
Ranji Hordern
Dr. Herbert Vivian Hordern (10 February 1883 – 17 June 1938), also known as Ranji Hordern, was an Australian cricketer who played in seven Test cricket, Test matches between 1911 and 1912. He was the first major leg-spin and googly bowler to p ...
for
Philadelphians
The Philadelphians, or the Philadelphian Society, were a 17th-century English dissenter group. They were organized around John Pordage (1607–1681), an Anglican priest from Bradfield, Berkshire, who had been ejected from his parish in 1655 beca ...
v Jamaica, 1908–09
References
{{coord, 17, 58, 24.29, N, 76, 47, 01.45, W, region:JM_type:landmark, display=title
Cricket grounds in Jamaica
Buildings and structures in Kingston, Jamaica
Sport in Kingston, Jamaica