The East Melbourne Cricket Ground was a grass oval sports venue located at the southwest corner of Jolimont Road and Jolimont Parade in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The site is best known for playing host to many sporting events during the city of Melbourne's early existence, consisting mainly of cricket and Australian rules football, although the ground occasionally hosted soccer matches. Its closure was predicated by the annexure of the land by Victoria Railways to enable stabling and marshalling of trains as part of the electrification of Melbourne's metropolitan rail service.

Two first-class cricket matches billed as "Smokers v Non-Smokers" were played during the 1880s. Featuring players from Australia and England, each match occurred during a tour of one of those countries by the other's national team. The first match was won by the Non-Smokers, while in the second, which was drawn, the Non-Smokers scored a then-record 803 runs in the first innings.