Sydney Showground Stadium Profile
The Sydney Showground Stadium in Australia was built to provide an additional venue for the 2000 Olympic Games and to replace the previous Showground Stadium at Moore Park.
It was first known as the Sydney Main Arena and has also had a host of commercial names such as the Spotless Stadium and Skoda Stadium. It is currently known as Giants Stadium due to playing host to Australia Football League side the GWS Giants.
After initially holding the baseball during the 2000 Olympics, it is also now the home of Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League. It has never hosted Test, ODI or T20I cricket.
Thunder only played two games here during the 2014-15 BBL season, preferring instead to be at Stadium Australia. However, in 2015 the franchise signed a 10-year agreement to play all of their home games at Sydney Showground. The highest cricket attendance at the ground came in 2016 when Sydney Thunder hosted city rivals Sydney Sixers. A total of 21,798 fans packed in to see the first Sydney derby of the BBL.
The Thunder’s first victory at the ground had previously come in December 2015 when the home side beat Adelaide Strikers. Jacques Kallis starred in the win before the Thunder went on to win the BBL title that same season.
What to look for when betting on matches at Sydney Showground Stadium
There is no clear advantage for teams batting first or second on the pitch at the Sydney Showground. The average first innings BBL score at the ground is 158.
Shane Watson has scored the most runs at this ground with 404 in 16 innings. The top wicket-takers are medium pacer Daniel Sams and Pakistan spinner Fawad Ahmed. They both have 23 wickets in 11 and 18 innings respectively. D’Arcy Short hit the highest individual score at the ground when smashing 97 for the Hobart Hurricanes in 2018.
