Down at the junction, there’s a cricket ground — it is old world, it sits on rich history and it’s the place where one Mr Shane Warne learnt his bowling when all he wanted to be was a chubby blonde batsman. It’s on this legendary ground, which Warne rates as his “favourite up there” that India and South Africa practised on Wednesday for their upcoming Sunday biggie at the MCG.
A little away from the city centre, on the St Kilda junction, this flat green patch among swaying eucalyptus trees, remains frozen in time personified by its cafeteria which is full of its rich cricketing history memorabilia. The St Kilda Club still plays some matches here but its real claim to fame is Warne who learnt his cricket on it and also played his first first-class match where he dismissed Tom Moody by his wily spin which was just about being developed into a fine art back then.
It was the captain-coach of St Kilda Club Shaun Graf who first asked who Warne, the chubby blonde boy, was. On being told that Warne was an aspiring batsman, he said: “Not sure about the batting but he might have a chance with the ball.”
The rest, as they say, is history and at the St Kilda Ground, since rechristened the Junction Oval, seeps out of every green patch worth its while. “There is a fraternity among cricketers and especially at St Kilda which I’ve always loved. It’s one of the reasons why I rate the Junction right up there... It’s where it all started for me,” Warne wrote in a foreword to a book brought out to commemorate this ground’s 150th anniversary, nine years ago.
Unfortunately, however, this picturesque ground, just a walk away from the sea beach, has not hosted a first class match for the past six years. Warnie, however, has promised to be there for the Junction Oval’s 160th birthday party next year.