Bay 13

Bay 13 is a section of tiered seating at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that occupies part of the Great Southern Stand behind the slips for a right-handed batsman, usually where third man is fielding. It is well known in the cricket world as a centre for rowdy spectators to congregate at the cricket and participate in practices such as Mexican waves, beach ball throwing and other disorderly conduct, often including abuse chanting towards opposition players.^[1]

History

Historically, Bay 13 is unofficially seen as an important part of the MCG's atmosphere and environment. Iconic pictures are regularly repeated in cricket coverage of the crowd mimicking Merv Hughes' warm up stretches in front of the Bay 13 mob.

Criticism

Bay 13 is situated almost opposite across the ground from the members stand and despite efforts to tame the behaviour of the crowd from this section of the ground, it has the worst behaved crowds of all the cricketing venues in the country. Particularly in recent times the section has been criticised for poor and drunken behaviour.^[2] In January 1999, Shane Warne was forced to come out of the change rooms and don a helmet in an attempt to calm the crowd who had disrupted a one-day match by throwing bottles onto the pitch. A string of incidents involving projectiles being thrown onto the MCG playing arena during one-day internationals in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade) prompted authorities to beef up security presence around the Bay 13 area, which has led to a reduction of Bay 13 hooliganism in recent years. However, unruly crowds are becoming more of a problem at Victorian Bushrangers home games, which can attract huge crowds but have only a minuscule security presence compared to international games.

At the 2005 Boxing Day test, reports of people throwing cups of urine and other liquids into the air during Mexican waves were downplayed by patrons of Bay 13.

Racism

In more recent times, Bay 13 has often been accused of racially abusing opposition teams, fans and players. The first such instance occurred on Boxing Day, 2005, when Bay 13 directed racial taunts in Afrikaans at South African fast bowler André Nel.^[3] Then during the 2007 Boxing Day Test, patrons in Bay 13 chanted "Show us your visa" to Indian fans. In two ODIs against Sri Lanka in February 2008 the "Show us your visa" chant was targeted at Sri Lankan fans.

It is common for spectators in Bay 13 to abuse - or even throw objects at - opposition fielders who field in front of them at fine leg or third man (or long-on or long-off from the other end), often with obscene gestures and chanting.

A Haven for Flogs

Though formerly associated with drunken MCG hooliganism (what wonderful times they were) in recent years the name Bay13 has become synonymous with online misbehavior through BigFooty's infamous sub-forum.

It has been argued that Bay13 is more than just a football forum where the dregs of society congregate, that its become a religion to some & a spiritual beacon to others. This is of course preposterous, since despite the forum's advocation of Max Gawn as an immortal deity, nomination of Leigh Matthews' 20 & 3 as an inhuman feat & holy crusade against James Hird's death-like grip over the souls of his followers, the recesses of Bay13 are as spiritually hollow as the Collected Intellectual Works of $5 Trav.

Indeed the shallow & petty nature of the forum is quite remarkable as anything from a hat worn by a player or a coach conducting a sausage sizzle will prove fodder for sprawling, rambunctious discussions which rarely lead anywhere, generate untold aggression from their participants and encourage readers to ponder whether the "missing link" between Neanderthals & Homo Sapiens is really all that missing. With the intellectual bar set lower than a limbo dancing convention, moderators who's only apparent qualification is a willingness to dismiss their optimism for humanity routinely egg on a motley group of social outcasts who's disturbingly all-encompassing football knowledge is mirrored by the all-encompassing ways they prove to be disturbing.

In the words of the immortal Dante, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here".

References

1. Bay 13 proved unlucky for some - The Age, 12 January 2007
2. MCG cricket crowd rated one of the world's worst - The Age, 12 December 2002
3. Fan ejected from MCG for taunts - The Age, 29 December 2005

Coordinates: 37°49′12″S 144°59′0″E / 37.82000°S 144.98333°E