Which venue hosted the first One Day International cricket match in 1971?

The Melbourne Cricket Ground hosted the first One Day International cricket match in 1971.

Australia played England at the MCG on 5 January 1971 in what became the first officially recognised men's ODI. The match was arranged as a replacement after rain washed out the opening three days of a scheduled Ashes Test. Instead of abandoning the fixture entirely, officials staged a one-day game consisting of 40 eight-ball overs per side.

Australia won by five wickets, and the match initially stood as a one-off experiment rather than the beginning of an established global format. The next ODI was not played until August 1972, roughly 19 months later. Over time, the format evolved into the modern 50-over international game and eventually became central to World Cup cricket.

The venue is often called the MCG, short for Melbourne Cricket Ground, and it already had historic importance: it hosted the first Test match in 1877, also between Australia and England. A common mix-up is choosing Lord's or The Oval, both famous English cricket grounds that later hosted major ODIs. The first match, however, was in Melbourne, created by a rain-disrupted Test schedule.