About Us
The Greg Chappell Cricket Centre started from humble beginnings in 1973, in the building next to our current Albion store location, in Brisbane, Queensland. Now with a network of ten stores and extensive mail order stocks, we can proudly say that the Greg Chappell Cricket Centre is the largest specialist cricket retailer in Australia and arguably in the world. We’ve been going for over 50 years, not out!
Our History:
In 1977 Greg Chappell joined the Cricket Centre team whilst playing for Queensland and the Australian team, and the centre was renamed to reflect his involvement. The annual Greg Chappell Cricket Centre catalogue has become a bible to cricketers worldwide, offering the biggest and best selection of cricketing brands. This coupled with a team of passionate and experienced cricketers sees a reputation founded on the ability to offer expert advice and friendly, efficient service, on all the latest developments in cricket equipment.
During the early 1990's the focus moved away from coaching and 'The Cricket Centre,’ backed by years of experience became the market leader in direct cricket retailing. Our Melbourne store was opened at 43 Dudley Street through the acquisition of 'Bat & Ball'. In 1997, cricketing great, Ian Healy was appointed a director of the company and has been instrumental in the expansion of the business ever since.
In 2004 The Cricket Centre was presented with the opportunity of opening a store at North Sydney Oval. Today the North Sydney Oval is the venue for State One Day cricket, including Sydney Grade cricket and plays host to many of the Women’s cricket matches.
Our fifth specialist store, and our second in Brisbane location was opened at 130 Compton Rd Underwood, ready for the start of the 2005 / 2006 season. This provided the south side of Brisbane with a specialist cricket store and a viable location for customers from the Gold Coast, Ipswich and the growing Southern Queensland corridor.
The 2006/2007 cricket season saw The Cricket Centre on the move again, this time with the relocation of the Clayton store to a more customer friendly location on the Princes Highway.
The 2009/2010 cricket season brought more changes and growth for the Cricket Centre business. In July 2009, the Cricket Centre announced the opening of two new stores. These stores were in Derwent Park, Tasmania, and Fyshwick, Canberra. The opening of these two new stores gave our customers access to our excellent range of products and knowledgeable staff, all the way down the east coast of Australia.
Our second NSW store, originally established at Rosebery in 2011 and then relocated to Alexandria in 2016, gives our customers in the South-East of Sydney the chance to access a local Cricket Centre store. The Alexandria store is again stocked with the world’s leading cricket products, at the best prices and our expert staff are keen to help you chose the best equipment.
For many years now, the Cricket Centre has teamed up with the guys from Gillespie Sports in Adelaide to bring you the total cricket experience in South Australia. The Cricket Centre at Edwardstown contains coaching facilities, gym and our impressive and enormous cricket store.
2017 saw the relocation of the Underwood store into a store twice the size right next door! It is unmissable as you travel down Compton Rd and has fast become a landmark and icon in the Brisbane South region.
Due to public demand for a wider offer of equipment, the 2018/19 season saw the relocation of the Hobart store to the nearby suburb of Moonah. Tasmania has never seen such a display of cricket equipment due to the size of this massive store. If you are in Hobart or one of our loyal members checking out this store is a must!
2020/21 was a tough time for Cricket and sport in general, with the COVID-19 pandemic reaching Australian shores and subsequently resulting in nationwide, periodic lockdowns. We are so thankful for the continued support of loyal customers during this time.
In 2022 we got back to what we love most, CRICKET! The 2022 season start saw the relocation of our West Melbourne store to the close by suburb of Footscray. Following the opening of Footscray, we relocated our Clayton store to a larger site only 200m further down the service road. To cap it off, we also opened a brand new Cricket Centre site in the north Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg. These three new cricket store locations are all sensational, with plenty of brands, stock and Kit Crew cricket knowledge; if you're anywhere in Melbourne, we have a brilliant new store near you!
In 2023 we celebrated our 50th year of trade. A massive mlestone which we were so incredibly fortunate to be able to share with our cricketing community!
Our Promise:
We will continue to prove our commitment to our customers, with further updates to the extensive Greg Chappell Cricket Centre website at www.cricketcentre.com.au The website gives our customers the ability to research and purchase cricket gear from anywhere in Australia or the world, with the confidence that all purchases are made in a fully secure and risk free environment. The website offers a simpler and more user friendly interface, matched with an expanded and customisable members section. Currency conversion is also available for overseas customers.
We will continue to engage with our customers with the fast paced world that is social media. The www.facebook.com/gccricketcentre page, www.twitter.com/gccricketcentre feed and @gccricketcentre instagram account provide fun, real time updates on our products and the world of cricket. Plus keeps our customers updated on any cricket equipment sales, coaching tips, product information or cricketing news. Likewise, the Cricket Centre YouTube channel is expanding at a rapid pace to offer product knowledge in an entertaining, concise and informative manner. Be sure to subscribe to and be the first to check out all the latest products at www.youtube.com/thecricketcentre.
Along the journey of over 50 years, our dedication to bringing you quality products, teamed with unsurpassed knowledge from our own icons Greg Chappell and Ian Healy through to our store teams, and fantastic customer service to match, has positioned the Greg Chappell Cricket Centre as the world market leader in specialist cricket retail. We look forward to many more to come and thank you for your support!