chronological events
| 1920's | Although Manuka Oval was occasionally know as Blandfordia Park, its official name was Manuka Park Circle. It was not until the end of the 1920’s many people started using the name Manuka Oval. |
|---|---|
| 1926 | Cricket association and bodies representing football make approaches to have Manuka Oval enclosed |
| 1927 | The Cricket association made approaches to establish turf wickets and to enclose the grounds to enable an admission fee to be charged, hinting that the Australian Board of Control might willingly include Canberra in the itinerary of the MCC team which was to tour Australia in 1928-1929 if this was to occur. Commission replied that work would commence as soon as possible with draft estimates provided for a pavilion with seating for 500 spectators and the erection of a playing fence around the playing area. The MCC never played in Canberra, instead playing in Goulburn due to a reduction in its funding. |
| 1928 | May - T.S O’Halloran, Chairman of the South Australian National Football League and John Curtin, member of Western Australia Umpires Board and the future Prime Minister of Australia visited Canberra to inspect Manuka Oval. July - Western Australia was set to play the Federal Capital Territory team. Inspection of Manuka Oval was seen as significant although the lack of permanent changing facilities saw the venue marked as disgraceful. Arrangements were made to make two additional cubicles for the match with each team having a total of twelve square metres for 18 men to change in and out of their uniforms. September - The Commission pegged out the ground for the turf wicket. |
| 1929 | Major work starts on enclosing Manuka Oval. It was expected that the work would have taken five (5) months but upon completion the total amount of time was nineteen (19) months. |
| 1930 | 13 April 1930- The first Cricket pitch was played on Easter Monday. The two story curators’ residence was constructed next to the Oval in a style typically used by the Federal Capital Commission. |
| 1951 | 27 October - Manuka Oval was host to the Prime Minister XI match, Prime Minister XI vs West Indies which saw a drawn match. |
| 1952 | 8 December - Manuka Oval was host to the Prime Minister XI match, Prime Minister XI vs Marylebone Cricket Club which saw Marylebone win by 31 runs. |
| 1959 | 10 February - Manuka Oval was host to the Prime Minister XI vs Marylebone Cricket Club which saw a drawn match (Marylebone Cricket Club won on 1st innings points). |
| 1961 | 18 February - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw a tied match |
| 1962 | Bradman pavilion constructed and named in honour of the great cricketer, Don Bradman who first played at Manuka oval against mailers ‘bohemians’. |
| 1963 | 6 February - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V Marylebone Cricket Club which saw the Marylebone Cricket Club win by 4 runs. |
| 1964 | 3 February - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V South Africa, which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 1 wicket |
| 1965 | 17 December - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V Marylebone Cricket Club which saw Marylebone Cricket Club win by 2 wickets. |
| 1979 | ACT Administration decided to develop Manuka Oval primarily for cricket. The pitches were re-laid with couch grass. |
| 1980's | The original scoreboard from the Melbourne Cricket Ground was installed at Manuka Oval. Relocated to the Oval when the MCG installed the first electronic board it was named the Jack Fingleton Scoreboard, after the late Australian opening batsman who made his career as a political journalist in the corridors of Parliament House, just kilometres away. |
| 1984 | 24 January - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 52 runs. |
| 1985 | 22 January - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw West Indies win by 15 runs. |
| 1986 | 22 January - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V New Zealand 23 December - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V England which saw England win by 4 wickets. |
| 1987 | Spectator areas at the northern and eastern side of the oval were reconstructed. 23 December - hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V New Zealand which saw New Zealand win by 37 runs. |
| 1988 | 8 December 1988- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled |
| 1990 | 31 January 1990- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V Pakistan which saw the Prime Minister XI match win by 81 runs. 4 December 1990- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V England which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 31 runs. |
| 1991 | 17 December 1991- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V India which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 75 runs. |
| 1992 | Spectator areas at the northern and eastern side of the oval were reconstructed. The two grandstands were named after two Prime Ministers who brought international cricket teams to Canberra on 16 occasions, and were named the Robert Menzies stand and the Bob Hawke stand by Dame Patti Menzies and Mr. Hawke in 1992. 10 March 1992- hosted the first One Day International match South Africa V Zimbabwe was played as part of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. 12 November 1992- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 3 runs |
| 1993 | 2 December 1993- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V South Africa which saw the Prime Minister team win by 4 runs. |
| 1994 | 9 November 1994- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V England which saw the Prime Ministers team win by 2 wickets |
| 1995 | The Canberra Kookaburras played home games at Manuka Oval until they were kicked out in 2000. 5 December 1995- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw the match being abandoned without a ball being bowled |
| 1996 | 10 December 1996- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 58 runs |
| 1997 - 2000 | Home of the Canberra Comets who played the Mercantile Mutual Cup. |
| 1997 | 2 December 1997- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V South Africa which saw the South African team win by 11 runs |
| 1998 | 17 December 1998- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V England which saw England win by 16 runs |
| 1999 | 7 December 1999- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V India which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 164 runs match, Prime Minister XI V India which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 164 runs |
| 2000 | 7 December 2000- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw the Prime Minister team win by 4 wickets |
| 2001 | Canberra Raiders played a home game at Manuka Oval. 19 April 2001- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V ATSIC Chairman’s XI team which saw the ATSIC Chairman’s team win by 7 wickets 6 December 2001- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V New Zealand which saw New Zealand win by 7 wickets |
| 2002 | 10 December 2002- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V England which saw the Prime Ministers XI team win by 4 wickets |
| 2004 | Manuka Oval celebrated its 75th anniversary of its formal establishment 28 January 2004- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V India which saw India win by 1 run |
| 2005 | 25 January 2005- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V Pakistan which saw Pakistan win by 5 wickets 2 December 2005- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V West Indies which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 6 runs |
| 2006 | 25 February 2006- hosted the NAB Cup, Kangaroos V Sydney with a crowd 5,336 23 April 2006- hosted the AFL Premiership match, Kangaroos V West Coast with a crowd of 9,541. 4 June 2006- hosted the AFL Premiership match, Kangaroos V Sydney Swans with a record crowd of 14,992 4 June 2006- Crowd record was set (14,922) when people came to watch the Kangaroos watch the Sydney Swans. 30 July 2006- hosted the AFL Premiership match, Kangaroos V Geelong with a crowd of 9,561 16 August 2006- Announcement that Melbourne and the western Bulldogs would play one premierships match each year from 2007-2009. 10 November 2006- hosted the Prime Ministers XI match, Prime Minister XI V England which saw the Prime Minister XI team win by 166 runs |
| 2007 | 24 February 2007- hosted NAB Cup match, western Bulldogs V Sydney Swans with a crowd of 5,557. 3 March 2007- hosted NAB Cup match, Sydney Swans V Richmond with a crowd of 3,365. 27 May 2007- hosted AFL Premiership match, Western Bulldogs V Sydney Swans with a crowd of 14,512. 5 August 2007- hosted AFL Premiership match, Melbourne V Sydney Swans with a crowd of 11,266. 11 August 2007- hosted the Australian Rugby Championships, Canberra Viking V Melbourne Rebels with a crowd of 4,355. 26 August 2007- hosted the Australian Rugby Championships match, Canberra Vikings V Ballymore Tornadoes 16 September 2007- hosted Australian Rugby Championships match, Canberra Vikings V Central Coast Rays |
| 2008 | 12 January 2008- ACT Invitational XI V India 30 January 2008- hosted the Prime Minister XI match, Prime Minister XI V Sri Lanka which saw Sri Lanka win by 4 wickets 12 February 2008- hosted the second One Day International match, India V Sri Lanka 23 February 2008- hosted the NAB Cup, St Kilda V Geelong 8 March 2008 – hosted the NAB Regional Challenge match, Sydney Swans V Brisbane Lions 22 June 2008- hosted the AFL Premiership match, Melbourne Demons V Sydney Swans 3 August 2008- hosted the AFL premiership match, Western Bulldogs V Sydney Swans |
| 2009 | 12 -15 January 2009- host to the Cricket Australia Cup match, Australian Capital Territory v Victoria Second XI 29 January 2009- host to the Prime Minister XI match, Prime Minister XI V New Zealand 7 March 2009- host to the ICC Women’s World Cup match, 2nd match Group A, England Women V Sri Lanka women 9 March 2009- host to the ICC Women’s World Cup match, 5th match Group B, Pakistan Women V Sri Lanka Women |
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