India's first Test in Oz to Sachin meeting Brandman: What MCG's 150-year library documented

The rare photograph of that emotional moment taken before the start of the fifth Test on February 6, 1948 captures ones attention as one enters the MCG library, housed inside the stadium.

There is a treasure trove of photographs, score sheets, articles and scrapbooks from the historic tour displayed inside the 150-year-old library.

The Australian team was led by the legendary Sir Donald Bradman, whose 'Invincibles' had returned undefeated from their 1948 tour of England, while Amarnath was the captain of independent India's first cricket team to tour Down Under.

It was also Bradman's last Test on home soil.

"Pankaj Gupta was the manager of the team during the 1947-48 tour. The most memorable picture is of the Indian and Australian sides lined up to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi... the other one is of CK Naidu being caught by Bradman and one where Bradman is facing Vinoo Mankad," David Studham, the MCG librarian told PTI Bhasha during a tour of the stadium.

"There are also wonderful scrapbooks put together by Australian children in the 1940s and 1960s. The Indian team's maiden tour of Australia was also highlighted in the library journal 'The Yorker' in the early 2000s," said Sutham, who has been associated with the library for three decades.

He said the MCG library collection consists of over a million items, including periodicals, newspapers, microfilms, videotapes and CD ROMs.

"This is probably one of the best sports-related collections in the world. We have around 8,000 rare books, pamphlets and manuscripts. The emphasis is on cricket but there is a healthy representation of around 119 sports, including football, tennis, golf, Olympics, among others," said Sutham.

It was not surprising to find a picture of legendary hockey player Balbir Singh Sr standing on the podium after India defeated Pakistan in the Olympic final at MCG in 1956. It was the hockey team's second hat-trick of Olympic gold medals, this time as an independent nation.

It was the first time since Partition that India played hockey against Pakistan on the global stage and the boundless joy on the faces of the players is all too apparent in the photographs and articles preserved in the MCG library.

"It is the most comprehensive library accessible to the public. We have material on hockey, football, tennis, golf, Australian history in the context of sports," said Trevor Rudell, the assistant librarian.

"We recently celebrated 150 years of this library, which was established on September 6, 1873, with 13 bound volumes of The Australasian newspaper from 1866 to 1873 being donated by its proprietor. We also have items dating back to the time when cricket was first played... also some rare material on women's cricket," he said.

"We all know the stature of the MCG; this is the ground where the first-ever Test match was played in March, 1877 between Australia and England. The first ODI was also played here in 1971, and it is the ground where India won its first Test in Australia in 1978 when (BS) Chandrasekhar took 12 wickets," said Rudell.

"There is a lot of buzz around the Boxing Day Test between India and Australia and we are hoping for a good footfall," he added.

Asked if efforts had been made to digitise rare material, Sutham said it has been done occasionally.

"We don't digitise copyright material. We digitise material that is in demand or is fragile," said Sutham.

"We are blessed to have such a library in Melbourne. I am doing research in women's sport... It is very important to preserve these documents, books, manuscripts, which is wonderfully done here at the MCG library," said Dr Kasey Symons, lecturer of communication and sports media at Deakin University.

Just outside the library, there is a picture of Bradman with Sachin Tendulkar taken on the legend's 90th birthday on August 27, 1998.