The Gabba, fortress of Australian cricket, is heading for demolition
For 32 years no visiting side could beat Australia in a Test at Brisbane's Gabba, until India broke the run in 2021. The ground has hosted cricket's first tied Test, greyhound racing, rugby league and Olympic football. After the 2032 Olympics, it is due to be knocked down.
Officially the Brisbane Cricket Ground, it sits in the suburb of Woolloongabba, which gives it its nickname. Land was reserved for cricket in 1895, and the first match, Parliament against The Press, took place on 19 December 1896. The first Test followed in November 1931 against South Africa, after the first scheduled Sheffield Shield game there was washed out without a ball bowled.
Its cricket history is rich. In December 1960 Richie Benaud's Australians and Frank Worrell's West Indians produced the first tied Test ever. Queensland won its first Sheffield Shield there in 1995, and it was the first Australian ground to stage an international Twenty20 match. By 2024 Australia had won 42 of 66 Tests at the ground, with 13 draws, one tie and ten defeats. Michael Clarke's 259 not out is its highest Test innings.
The venue has always been versatile. Greyhounds raced there in 1928 and weekly under lights for 21 years from 1972. Rugby league's first Brisbane match was played there in 1909. English clubs including Manchester United and Everton played exhibition football there in the 1950s and 1960s, and it hosted football games at the 2000 Olympics. Between 1993 and 2005 it was rebuilt in six stages for A$128 million, becoming home to the Brisbane Bears and then the Brisbane Lions in Australian football. In 2020, with Melbourne's stadium closed to crowds by the pandemic, it became the first ground outside Victoria to host the AFL Grand Final.
The Olympics decided its fate. A rebuild into a 50,000-seat main stadium, first priced at $1 billion, had ballooned to $2.7 billion by 2023 and was cancelled in March 2024. In March 2025 the state instead announced a $3.8 billion, 63,000-seat stadium at Victoria Park. After the Games it will take over as Brisbane's main venue, and the Gabba site is planned for housing.
Source: The Gabba
