31 May 1871   South Australian Cricket Association

The South Australian Cricket Association came into being on 31 May 1871 at a meeting held at the Prince Alfred Hotel (now part of the Town Hall).

The first recorded cricket match was played at Thebarton on 28 October 1839. In 1859 six acres of the north park lands were leased. By the the early 1870s there were three clubs in Adelaide: North Adelaide, the Young Men of Kent, and the South Australian. 

With the formation of SACA the Adelaide Oval was leased in June 1872. A grandstand, which became the basis of the George Giffen Stand, was constructed in 1882 and was first used when England played South Australia that year. The mound was built in 1884 ready for the first Test Match between England and Australia which was played on 12 December. Further stands were added over the years, the last being the Sir Donald Bradman stand opened in 1990.

The scoreboard, designed by F. Kenneth Milne, was built in 1911 at a cost of over £1400. The Annual Report that year claimed that it would be one of the finest in the southern hemisphere and would give more information than boards on any other ground. It remains one of the features of the beautiful Adelaide Oval.

Susan Marsden, Paul Stark, Patricia Sumerling (eds), Heritage of the City of Adelaide, Corporation of the City of Adelaide, 1990,  pp. 242-243.