"Rain, rain go away ! Come again another day !" - That's one saying that's going to be absolute in the coming days of cricket. First it was indoor swimming pools, then came indoor tennis, of course the huge influx of indoor sports like snooker, billiards, table tennis became hot favourites. After witnessing indoor athletics, one of the very few sports that seems left out is cricket. Well, that's no longer left to the imagination now. We had indoor cricket training centers, and now an indoor cricket stadium for the first time in history !

The stunning first-time-ever indoor stadium for cricket at Melbourne, Australia is a feast to the eyes. Australia, the home to many other amazing pieces of architecture now boasts of a splendid indoor stadium. Another feather added to its cap? The Colonial stadium, as it has been named play host to the home team of Australia and that of South Africa.

"It's going to be a good one-day wicket, it's probably got more pace than what we've played on in Sri Lanka," said the South Africans after their arrival at Australia last week following a 1-1 result from a three Test tour of Sri Lanka.

However, the riskiest feature of this historic one-day series, which is its drop-in-pitch, already appears to be a success. The patchy and damp outfield, the bowler's run ups and the lighting had the players wary. To ensure that the players get a feel of the new playing conditions, the two teams had their first training sessions at the ground on Monday ahead of the one-day series that were to commence only on Wednesday.

But then again, all's well that ends well. Captain Shaun Pollock was impressed with what he saw." They (deliveries) were coming on beautifully, I presume it will be pretty similar to the middle so there should not be a lot of runs scored," said he, looking reasonably pleased.