The Robertson Oval is a multi-use sports facility in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. It primarily hosts cricket, Australian rules football and rugby league matches. A grass embankment runs around three-quarters of the oval with a 350-seat grandstand and social club on western side of the ground. Plans are in place for a 3–5 million dollar redevelopment of the arena. As the oval is located in the heart of Wagga Wagga CBD, the AFL and New South Wales Cricket Association will use the oval after redevelopment preferring it to other regional venues.Wagga Wagga to make Sheffield Shield debut
Teams Wagga Tigers – Aussie Rules, Riverina Football League Hosts matches for various teams from the Wagga Cricket League
NOTE: The playing surface is currently too small to host top-class cricket and AFL matches, something the redevelopment will address.
History
A cricket match between Wagga Wagga and an Australian XI on 8 March 1878 is the first recorded First-Grade cricket match at the Robertson Oval. 22 men of Wagga Wagga took on 11 Australians in a two-day match. The Australians, under their first captain, Dave Gregory won by an innings and 117 runs. The match was played in preparation for the 1878 Tour to England.
The ground was the venue for a Sheffield Shield game between New South Wales and Victoria from February 15 to 18, 2015, due to the unavailability of the Sydney Cricket Ground during the 2015 World Cup.Wagga Wagga to make Sheffield Shield debut
The city will also host under-14 State Challenge matches in 2016 and 2017 and there will be funding set aside to help develop cricket at a grassroots level too.
The Australians scorecard is noted below:
Australians First Innings Runs C Bannerman c Harris b Douglas 2 AC Bannerman c & b Douglas 2 TP Horan b Thompson 8 GH Bailey b Thompson 16 *DW Gregory c Black b Thompson 36 TW Garrett c Douglas b Harris 73 WL Murdoch b Nelson 93 +JM Blackham c Crocker b Blakeney 14 HF Boyle not out 2 FE Allan c Blakeney b Nelson 0 TK Kendall absent Sundries 14 Total (all out, 162.3 overs) 260 Fall of Wickets: 1-? (C Bannerman), 2-? (AC Bannerman), 3-21 (Horan), 4-42 (Bailey), 5-98 (Gregory), 6-202 (Garrett), 7-253 (Blackham), 8-260 (Murdoch), 9-260 (Allan, 162.3 ov) Wagga Wagga Bowling Overs Maidens Runs Wkts Thompson 73 29 94 3 Douglas 44 16 46 2 Howard 4 0 6 0 Fell 4 0 14 0 Clayton 2 0 7 0 Troy 5 1 22 0 Harris 23 6 36 1 Nelson 4.3 1 15 2 Blakeney 3 0 7 1
Attendance records 11,000 in 1960 for an International Rugby league match (France 25 beat Riverina 14) 10,732 in 1954 for an International Rugby League match between Great Britain and a Riverina Invitational side. Great Britain were on a gruelling tour of Australia and New Zealand of over three months, including 32 matches. The British, captained by Willie Horne won narrowly 36–26. Great Britain would later go on to win the inaugural Rugby League World Cup, in France, later that year.
Notable cricket matches
References