The Cricket Museum at the MCG is a huge draw in the daily tours conducted by the very British stripes-suited oldies who obviously have more knowledge than any others about this priceless and matchless cricketing treasure trove in the heart of Australia’s biggest and most venerable sporting grounds.
The artefacts here are to die for if you are a cricket fan, one of them being a quaint silver cigarette box presented to Sir Phelham Warner after the famous Bodyline series of 1932-33 in Australia with the signatures of great of the game Douglas Jardine, Bill Voce, Harold larwood, Bill Bowes. That it lies in Australia is an insult the Englishmen have never gotten over, much like what the Indians feel about the Kohinoor being housed in an English museum.
So how did something so English come by at MCGIJ Well, that’s a story in itself. It was on November 14, 1969 that this museum was launched but not with much fanfare, just as a simple introduction over an evening get-together of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC).
It was all so British with cricket in those times that then MCC chairman Bert Chadwick did not dare to suggest that this cricket museum was richer and better endowed than the one at lord’s. And it all came together by a remarkable act of charity by a committed cricket fan, him being British too.
Now, this fan Tony Baer was a rich stock broker in london who was not so rich in the game of cricket during his school days and was dropped as school captain for continued non-performance. His highest score ever was just 28 runs! But at age 15, he bought a cricket mug for five shillings and that was the beginning of the Cricket Museum that we see at the MCG now and which carries a $30 ticket for entry.
Baer’s interest in what he called “cricketana” grew from then on and as he raised his millions on the stock exchange in England, he bought every possible cricket collectible that came his way. From cricket motifs, to cartoons to scorecards, porcelain, glassware, oil paintings, snuff boxes, wood carvings, caps and cups – he bought them all.
It was in the late 1960s that Baer visited Australia and was so impressed by the Australian way of life at the MCG that he willed his entire collection to its club, the MCC. And, the stadium did not have to wait for too long before the priceless collection arrived in its premises — not because Baer had passed but because he could no longer house the burgeoning collectibles in his England flat.
“Every available square inch was covered or filled with cricketana. Even the toilet seat was nicely decorated with a famous Australian cricketer. He was just about to start decorating the ceilings when he made a decision. Why wait until he diedIJ Give it to the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) now – and he did,” says a book on MCG.
Today, on display are mind-boggling and awe-inspiring pieces of cricket art, history, culture and excellence in worth the price of gold. To list some of them: An 1841 painting depicting the Godson Brothers playing cricket at Eton, all in black velvet and Eton colours; Dr W G Grace in silver and chinaware, a pipe carved in the shape of his head. There’s also a miniature porcelain statuette of Freddie Truman about to bowl; and, of course, the 1970 signatures of Elizabeth R, Philip, Charles & Anne in the visitor’s book. In case you are wondering, this is royalty!
Then there is this rarest of rare bowl depicting a 1730 cricket match in progress which the Victoria and Albert Museum begged Baer to give it to them but he refused only because he wanted to keep his collection together.
Over the years, Baer’s museum has expanded to more sports, more events and more personalities. Of course, there is a lot of cricket in it still but swimmer Ian Thorpe’s size 17 shoe which he could never wear for the 2000 Sydney Olympics find a place as does Sachin Tendulkar’s 1999 tour sweater and MAK Pataudi’s blazer, not to mention artefacts related to Australian cricket over the years.
There are old bats, old gloves, antiquated cricketing gear and helmets that take you down the memory lane of so many wily encounters between great cricketing nations. For all this, and much more, you finally concede that a $30 fee for entry is not too much after all!