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Manuka Oval is a sporting venue in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is located in Griffith, in the area of that suburb known as Manuka. Manuka Oval has a seating capacity of 13,550 people and an overall capacity of 16,000 people, although this is lower for some sports depending on the configuration used. The area on which the ground is situated has been used for sport since the early 20th century, but was only enclosed in 1929. It has since undergone several redevelopments, most recently beginning in 2011.
Currently, Manuka Oval is primarily used for cricket (during the summer months) and Australian rules football (during the winter months). The ground was previously also used for rugby league and rugby union matches, but there are now more suitable venues in Canberra for those sports. As a cricket ground, Manuka Oval is the home venue for the ACT Comets (men's) and the ACT Meteors (women's) teams, and has also hosted a number of international matches, including at the 1992 and 2015 World Cups. As an Australian rules football ground, Manuka Oval's primary tenant is the Eastlake Football Club, which plays in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL). Australian Football League (AFL) games are played at the ground on a semi-regular basis. The Greater Western Sydney Giants have used the oval as a secondary home ground since the club entered the AFL in 2012 and AFL Women's in 2017. Other AFL clubs had previously hosted games at the venue, most notably the North Melbourne Football Club from 1998 to 2006.
Manuka Oval had a $4.3 million upgrade starting from the second half of 2011, which included 4,300 additional temporary seats for the venue, new media and corporate facilities, upgrades to the Hawke and Bradman stands' covering and upgrades to entry facilities. Floodlights were installed at the ground in late 2012 to allow sport to be played at the venue at night, and were first used on 29 January 2013 for a day-night cricket match between the West Indies and the Prime Minister's XI.
The AFL, through a private consortium, made an $800 million bid to upgrade the precinct in 2018 and expand the seating capacity by 4,750 with covered areas, however the ACT government rejected the proposal. AFL: GWS Giants 'in favour' of Manuka Oval funding boost amid federal government's Tasmania commitment by Melanie Dinjaski 2 May 2023 AFL boss Gillon McLachlan wants sport to dominate Canberra market via GWS Giants By Chris Dutton, David Polkinghorne 24 April 2018
In 2015, the ground hosted three One Day International (ODI) matches between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe, South Africa and Ireland as part of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
The ground is home to the ACT Comets, who played in the Mercantile Mutual Cup from the 1997–98 season to the 1999–2000 season; the team now plays in the Futures League.
Manuka Oval held its second ODI, and its first as part of a normal international tour, on 12 February 2008 between India and Sri Lanka in the Australian tri-series; and it hosted its first international match featuring Australia on 6 February 2013, in which Australia defeated the West Indies by 39 runs. Top level domestic cricket also returned to the ground from 2011 to 2012, with the New South Wales Blues for three seasons playing a Sheffield Shield and Ryobi One Day Cup match each season; and, the ground hosted the 2013/14 Sheffield Shield final, because the Sydney Cricket Ground was unavailable due to a Major League Baseball series.
The venue sought to host its first Test cricket in the year 2013 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the city of Canberra, however, the request was not granted.
The ground hosted the final of the 2014–15 T20 Big Bash on 28 January 2015. The first regular season BBL game was held on 24 January 2018 when the Sydney Thunder hosted the Melbourne Renegades. The first WBBL game at the venue was held on the same day.
In April 2018, it was confirmed that the Manuka Oval would host its first ever Test match in February 2019. The match was held from 1 to 5 February 2019 between Australia and Sri Lanka, where four Australian batsmen made centuries.
The most runs scored here in ODI format is by Aaron Finch (348 runs), followed by David Warner (265 runs) and Hashim Amla (261 runs). The most wickets taken here is by Mitchell Starc (7 wickets).
The oval has served as an occasional venue for Australian Football League matches since 1998, and a permanent home venue since 2012.
Between 1998 and 2006, the North Melbourne Football Club, hosted a total of eighteen matches at the venue, playing three games per season from 2001 onwards. Brent Harvey was the only player to have played all 18 AFL games featuring the Kangaroos played at Manuka Oval.
From 2007 until 2009, the Melbourne Demons and the Western Bulldogs each played a home match against the Sydney Swans at the venue; the Bulldogs continued this arrangement in 2010 and 2011.
Since 2012, the newly established Greater Western Sydney Giants have played three home-and-away matches and one pre-season match at the ground each year. The club's first ever AFL win, against the Gold Coast Suns in Round 7, 2012, took place at this venue. Giants stun Suns for first win, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 12 May 2012 The record crowd for the ground was set when 14,974 attended for the match between the Giants and Richmond, a game the Giants won by 88 points holding Richmond to their lowest score, 3.5 (23). The women's team also plays one home-and-away match at Manuka Oval during the AFL Women's season; their opponents in the 2017 and 2018 matches played in Canberra were, on both occasions, the . Manuka Oval also hosts the home matches of the Belconnen Magpies and Eastlake Demons in the AFL Canberra competition as well as all eastern conference finals.
For three seasons beginning with the 2013 AFL season, Manuka Oval was branded as StarTrack Oval during Australian rules football matches. The naming rights deal expired in early 2016.(18 February 2016). "Giant push for Manuka upgrade" – Austadiums. Retrieved 20 March 2016. Since 2017 until 2020 the venue has commercially been known as the UNSW Canberra Oval.
As of 2019, Jeremy Cameron holds the record for the most AFL goals kicked at Manuka Oval, kicking 49 goals.
| 14,974 | |||
| 14,922 | |||
| 14,891 | |||
| 14,667 | |||
| 14,517 | |||
| 14,308 | |||
| 14,274 | |||
| 14,048 | |||
| 13,832 | |||
| 13,656 | |||
| Source: AFL Attendance Records Last updated on 6 August 2017 | |||
| 15,807 | |||
| 14,484 | |||
| 12,700 | |||
| 11,859 | |||
| 11,837 | |||
| 11,557 | |||
| 11,548 | |||
| 11,388 | |||
| 11,319 | |||
| 11,300 | |||
| Source: Adam Morehouse Last updated on 5 February 2019 | |||
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