The Gabba

The Gabba in 1899

The First Test between Australia and England is played nowadays at Brisbane. Nobody seems to know why, and all sorts of arguments are ventilated for and against more cricket Tests on the Woolloongabba ground. I am all in favour of robbing Queensland of its greatest cricketing occasion, for the ground depresses. It is not a cricket ground at all. It is a concentration camp! Wire fences abound. Spectators are herded and sorted out into lots as though for all the world this was a slave market and not a game of cricket. The stands are of wood and filthy to sit on. The dining rooms are barns, without a touch of colour or a picture on the wall. Everywhere there is dust and dirt...Forgive me if I am bitter about the Woolloongabba ground...the city has many good points, and the people who live there are generous and hospitable to the highest degree, but once one goes to the cricket ground the advantages are overwhelmingly lost in the mass of rules and regulations...[14] – John Kay, 1950–51 Ashes series

The Gabba is used from October to March for cricket and is home to the Queensland Cricket Association, the Queensland Cricketers Club and the Queensland Bulls cricket team. The venue usually hosts the first Test match of the season each November in addition to a number of international one-day matches usually held in January. The pitch is usually fast and bouncy.

The Gabba's amenities were greatly improved in the 1980s from a very basic standard, especially in comparison with the other Australian cricket grounds. Test cricket was first played at the ground in November 1931, the first Test of the series between Australia and South Africa. In December 1960, Test cricket's first-ever Tied Test took place at the ground when Richie Benaud's Australian team tied with Frank Worrell's West Indian side. Queensland clinched its first-ever Sheffield Shield title with victory over South Australia in the final at the ground in March 1995.

The Gabba was the first Australian venue to host an International Twenty20 cricket match.[15]

In November 1968 Colin Milburn scored 243, including 181 in the two-hour afternoon session, in a Sheffield Shield match for Western Australia vs. Queensland.[16]

For the first day of the first Test of the 2010–11 Ashes series between Australia and England, the Gabba was almost sold out.[17] Australia's Michael Clarke holds the record for number of runs scored in one Test innings at the Gabba with 259 not out, breaking the previous record set by Alastair Cook.[18]

Australia has a formidable test match record at the ground. In the 55 matches played at the ground, Australia has won 33, drawn 13, tied 1 and lost 9. The last loss came on January 19, 2021 against India in the 4th and final test of 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar trophy.[19] India became the first Asian team to win a Test match at the Gabba.[20] This was Australia's first loss at the Gabba in 29 matches, and 32 years. England have a notoriously poor record at The Gabba, and have only won two test matches at the ground since the end of the Second World War. Many of their defeats have been heavy[21] and only seven England players have scored centuries at the ground.

On 15 December 2016, Australia hosted Pakistan for the first day-night Test at the Gabba,[22] and the first Australian day-night Test hosted outside the Adelaide Oval.

Panorama of the Gabba on the 2nd day of the 2006–07 Ashes series

Australian Football Premiership Finals at the Gabba, 1907

An Australian Football Match at the Gabba in 2008.

Brisbane Lions vs Sydney Swans at the Gabba looking east in 2019

The grave of David Newitt, who died from injuries received in a cycling race at the Gabba in 1922.

The Gabba was the home ground for the Brisbane Bears from 1993 to 1996 and since 1997 has been the home of the Brisbane Lions AFL team. The record crowd for an Australian rules football match is 37,473 between the Brisbane Lions and Richmond in the 2019 second qualifying final.[23]

Australian football has a long association with the ground. The Queensland Football League, a precursor to AFL Queensland played matches at the Gabba from 1905 to 1914, 1959 to 1971, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s. AFLQ matches resumed in 1993 as curtain-raiser events to AFL games, along with occasional AFLQ Grand Finals.

Interstate games, including the 1961 national carnival have also been played there, as was a demonstration game during the 1982 Commonwealth Games. In 1991 the Gabba was host to Queensland's only victory over a Victorian side.

During the 2020 AFL season, the Gabba hosted a greater number of home and away matches than usual, due to the temporary relocation of Victorian and other clubs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The venue was also selected to host the 2020 AFL Grand Final, with the Melbourne Cricket Ground not capable of hosting any spectators at the match. The Gabba thus became the first stadium outside the state of Victoria to host a VFL/AFL Grand Final, which Richmond won against Geelong by 12.9 (81) to 7.8 (50) in front of 29,707 people – just under the venue's temporary maximum capacity due to the pandemic.[24] Previously, since the MCG began hosting VFL/AFL Grand Finals (VFL until 1989, AFL afterwards), only three other venues had done so: Princes Park (1942, 1943 and 1945), the St Kilda Cricket Ground (1944) and Waverley Park (1991).

In the early 1900s, the Gabba hosted numerous matches between Australia and various touring nations.[25] During the 1950s and 1960s the Gabba hosted soccer matches for English first division and Scottish clubs including Blackpool FC, Everton FC, Manchester United and Heart of Midlothian F.C..[26] The Chinese and South African national teams also played at the ground. During the 2000 Summer Olympics, the Gabba hosted association football group games.[27]

On 8 May 1909 the first match of rugby league was played in Brisbane at the Gabba. Norths played against Souths before a handful of spectators at the ground.[28] The Gabba hosted its first rugby league Test match on 26 June 1909, when Australia defeated New Zealand Māori 16–13.[29] The Kangaroos continued to play Tests at this venue until 1956, and a ground record crowd of 47,800 people saw Australia play Great Britain in 1954. From 1932 to 1959 the Gabba was also used to host interstate matches and International Rugby League Finals from 1909 – 2003.

The Gabba hosted 11 rugby league test matches between 1912 and 1956.[30]

Date	Home team	Opponents	Result	Attendance	Part of
14 August 1909	Australia	Māori	16–13	8,000	1909 Māori tour
6 July 1912	Australia	New Zealand	13–10	8,000	1912 Trans-Tasman Test series
18 June 1932	Australia	The Lions	15–6	15,944	1932 Ashes series
4 July 1936	Australia	The Lions	7–12	29,486	1936 Ashes series
12 June 1948	Australia	New Zealand	13–4	23,014	1948 Trans-Tasman Test series
1 July 1950	Australia	Great Britain	15–3	35,000	1950 Ashes series
30 June 1951	Australia	France	23–11	35,000	1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand
28 June 1952	Australia	New Zealand	29–45	29,243	1952 Trans-Tasman Test series
9 July 1954	Australia	Great Britain	21–38	46,355	1954 Ashes series (All time Gabba attendance record)
2 July 1955	Australia	France	28–29	45,745	1955 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand[31]
23 June 1956	Australia	New Zealand	8–2	28,361	1956 Trans-Tasman Test series

The Gabba has hosted six rugby union Test matches.

Year	Home team	Result	Opponents	Crowd
1907	Australia	5-14	New Zealand	not known
1914	Australia	0-17	New Zealand	not known
1950	Australia	6-19	British and Irish Lions	not known
1951	Australia	6-16	New Zealand	not known
2001	Australia	13-29	British and Irish Lions	37,460
2002	Australia	38–27	South Africa	37,258

Greyhound racing was also conducted at the Gabba prior to the redevelopment.[32]