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The Melbourne Cricket Club
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Tucked away in a quiet corner of Kingston, at the end of Courtney Walsh Drive, is the Melbourne Cricket Club. Founded way back in 1892, the club boasts a glittering array of alumni, serving as a feeder for Jamaica's state team. Arthur Barrett and Sam Morgan led the way; Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh, who is the current president, have ends named after them; Marlon Samuels and Carlton Baugh jr carry on the tradition.
Like Sabina Park, it has a bar near the pavilion, with photographs of famous teams decorating the walls. The dressing room is quaint – with wooden benches arranged in a classroom-like setting and shelves on one wall that act as kit-bag enclosures. One of the shelves has a rusty label that says C Walsh. He’s all over town this fella – in his bar Cuddyz in New Kingston, in his sports shop in Courtney Walsh boulevard, in Sabina Park ...
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The roll of honour for twin centurions at the Melbourne Cricket Club in Kingston
© Cricinfo Ltd
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Unusually, especially for a club ground, it has sponsors' labels on the boundary walls. Even more unusually, just like in Sabina Park, the roof railings have a list of all batsmen who have scored centuries in both innings of a Test. Lawrence Rowe, a local hero, figures there; as does Sunil Gavaskar, whose legend still lives on here. But it’s a queer statistic for public consumption. List of hundreds and five-wicket hauls is one thing; list of twin-centuries quite another. Imagine the odds of finding the name Wajahatullah Wasti on the roof of a small cricket club called Melbourne based in Kingston!
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