There's a lot of cricketing history associated with the Western Australian Cricket Association ground here in Perth and it's not necessarily to do with cricketers alone. The giant manual scoreboard here is one of only two in Australia — the other being at the Adelaide Oval. "It was originally built in 1954 and moved a couple of times before it was finally shifted here, in 1987," informed Stephen Hill, the museum curator at WACA.


The giant manual scoreboard at the WACA ground in Perth. Pics/Ashwin Ferro 

The three-storey structure is fascinating from the inside. There are three levels — (i) top level, where the top six batsmen's scores are changed, (ii) middle level, where the second half of the team's scores are changed and (iii) bottom level, where bowlers' figures are updated by a staff of around eight to 12 people. The scoreboard staff have their breakfast, lunch and even perform their bathroom duties (in a temporary toilet set-up on match days) inside the scoreboard itself.