Cricket is an outdoor sport and was not meant to be played indoor. Players, spectators, and the ones involved in the game’s development have enjoyed the sport to its full capacity in stadiums across Southeast Asia, Australia, and parts of Europe. Professionally, the playing field within the stadium is 140 metres in diameter. The boundaries of this playing field can range between 59 to 82 metres.
The total grass covering on the playing area of the stadium is nearly 20,000 yards. It is imperative to maintain the health of this grass to ascertain safe gameplay. As a result, more than roof coverings, the curators have historically preferred foto focus on drainage systems of the ground. A stadium that is closed or covered by roof can be detrimental for the grass, and eventually the players.
Globally, there exists only one cricket stadium that has a retractable roof. This is the Docklands Stadium of Melbourne, that is also known as the Marvel stadium. If a match is interrupted by rain, then the retractable roof can completely cover the stadium within eight minutes.
While the architecture of the Docklands Stadium is impressive, players have regularly criticised the indoor playing conditions within the stadium. Indoor conditions make the grass slippery, leading to an increased risk of players injuring themselves. Additionally, there are some patches of grass scattered across the stadium that do not get the optimum sunlight regularly.
The stadium hosted the first professional One Day International match between Australia and South Africa in 2000, with the hosts emerging winners. The second match played between both sides was one of the rare occurrences of a match being tied. In 2005, all three matches between Australia and World XI were held in the Dockland stadium. Every match was won by Australia. The last One Day International match was held in 2006. South Africa, New Zealand, and Pakistan are the only visiting sides who have defeated Australia at least once at the Docklands stadium. Later, the International Cricket Council discontinued professional cricket matches at the Marvel stadium
In 2011, the ground was officially made the home ground of Big Bash League teams, Melbourne Renegades. The Renegades have played 69 matches in this stadium since 2025. But the 2018-19 champions have managed to win only 26 of these home fixtures. The Docklands Stadium has never hosted a professional men’s test cricket match, a men’s T20 International, or a women’s international fixture of any tier.
One of the rules that was made specifically for this stadium was pertaining to the ball’s contact with the roof. Initially, if a ball hit the roof, then the umpire would signal a dead ball. However, in 2005 and 2012, Michael Hussey and Aaron Finch respectively hit two shots that were certain sixes, be interrupted by making contact with the roof. As a result, a new rule was proposed and the ball’s contact with the roof was subsequently signaled a six.
The rule again came into scrutiny when in 2018, Ashton Turner hit a shot that hit the roof and landed within the 30-yard circle. Per the new rule, a six runs were signalled. Thus, in 2023, the rule was reverted back to its orginal idea and a dead ball is now called whenever the ball hits the roof.
While international cricket matches are still a challenge to be hosted within the Docklands Stadium, fans of the Big Bash League readily flock in large numbers to enjoy the spectacle of the roof.
