SCG Curator Tom Parker Operating The Restored Barford & Perkins Roller, Australia V India Test, 2012.

The Sydney Cricket Ground’s historic Barford & Perkins roller has a new lease of life for the new century – by taking it back to the last century.

The 1928 roller has been returned to its original glory through painstaking restoration works undertaken by the Sydney Cricket and Sports Grounds’s Grounds and Maintenance teams, under the guidance of mechanic, Arthur Cilia.

Weighing 2.5 tons, the roller was purchased new by the Trust from Noyes Bros. (Sydney) Ltd to replace the old horse-drawn roller, presently located behind the Members Pavilion. It has been in regular use at the SCG ever since, and is still the primary roller used for preparation of cricket pitches.

In the process of restoration in 2001, incongruous components that were added to the English-built machine over the years have been removed, and the paintwork and chrome plating have been largely redone. The project started as a minor upgrade, but developed into a labour of love for the Grounds and Maintenance teams, who take great pride in their role in preserving the history of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The end result is a machine that steals the show whenever it trundles out to roll the pitch before play at the SCG