St Kilda Cricket Ground
| Junction Oval | |
 |
|
| Location | Lakeside Drive, St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°51′21″S 144°58′48″E / 37.85583°S 144.98000°ECoordinates: 37°51′21″S 144°58′48″E / 37.85583°S 144.98000°E |
| Owner |
Victorian Government (2015–2017 redevelopment) Cricket Victoria (2017 onwards) |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
| Opened | 1856 |
| Tenants | |
| Cricket First Class · Victoria cricket team VPC · St Kilda Cricket Club · Melbourne Stars (WBBL) Australian rules football VFL · St Kilda Football Club · South Melbourne Football Club · Fitzroy Football Club · Melbourne Football Club † Training and admistrative purposes only VFA · Sandringham Football Club VAFA · Old Melburnians Football Club |
(2005, 2017–) (1856–present) (2015–present) (1873-1964) (1944-1946) (1970-1984) (1986-2008)† (1966) (1992-2015) |
Junction Oval (officially known St Kilda Cricket Ground and soon to be referred to as the Victorian Cricket and Community Centre) is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction (the intersection of St Kilda's main street - Fitzroy Street - and St Kilda Road) gave rise to its nickname. It is located approximately five kilometres from the centre of Melbourne and is in the southernmost part of the large Albert Park sporting precinct.
In July 2015, the oval began undergoing a $25–$40 million redevelopment designed to make it the administrative headquarters of Cricket Victoria.
Junction Oval was established on its present site in 1856. The first grandstand at the ground was purchased from the old Elsternwick racecourse and erected in 1892 at the southern end of the ground. A new grandstand was built in 1925-6 at a cost of £7000, designed by the architect E J Clark and built by H H Eilenberg. It was originally called the G P Newman Stand but has been renamed the Kevin Murray Stand after one of the Fitzroy Football Club's most famous footballers. A second brick stand designed by E J Clark to complement the Murray Stand was built by H H Eilenberg in 1933-4 at a cost of £7500. It was named the Don Blackie-Bert Ironmonger Stand in honour of the St Kilda Cricket Club and Test cricketers. It still functions as a public pavilion. A new £6000 manual scoreboard and kiosk at the northern end of the ground was built in 1956-7, the cricket club's centenary year. It is unknown what the fate of these facilities is in the 2015–2017 redevelopment.
The current capacity of the ground is around 8,000. The scoreboard (built 1954-55 by the St Kilda Cricket Club) is a landmark of the St Kilda Junction area. There are two main heritage grandstands, the Blackie-Ironmonger stand built by the St Kilda Cricket Club (named after two of St Kilda Club's Test cricketers: recently restored and in use), and the Kevin Murray grandstand (named after one of Fitzroy's greatest footballers: not in use). The remainder of the ground is terraced asphalt, with grass embankments at the rear. Older structures were demolished during a rationalisation of the ground, after they were declared a fire hazard by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in 1988. It is a very picturesque venue, with a top-quality turf playing area and a modern backdrop of tall buildings and parkland.
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