VOTE: Is Melbourne or Sydney our sporting capital - The Daily Telegraph

The Australian Open kicks off Melbourne's annual sporting calendar every year. Picture: AP

DOES Melbourne securing the Cricket World Cup final answer once and for all the question of which city is Australia's sporting capital?

Melburnians will tell you the matter was never up for discussion, given their town is home to Australia's most storied stadium and more major sporting events than any of the other capital cities.

But Sydneysiders can still make a case for their city's status as the heartland of Aussie sport.

Weigh up the two traditional sporting rivals and decide for yourself below.

A STADIUM FOR EVERY MELBURNIAN?

Walk along Olympic Boulevard.

Spin slowly in a circle.

With one 360-degree twirl you can take in Melbourne Park, the MCG, Hisense Arena, AAMI Park and the Westpac Centre.

That's five major sporting facilities within spitting distance of each other.

Sporting hubs don't come much more 'hubbish' than that.

SYDNEY - SHINY IS GOOD

Just like TVs, we like our stadiums to be the latest and greatest. And they don't come much more impressive than Sydney's major venue, ANZ Stadium.

Built for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, it will forever be remembered for hosting one of the better Games on record.

Try to get wifi reception at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and you'll realise why sometimes a rich history isn't all its cracked up to be.

MELBOURNE - MORE EVENTS, MORE OFTEN

It's hard to argue with Melbourne's stable of annual sporting staples.

Kicking off in January with the Australian Open, the Formula 1 circus soon rolls into town, as does the Melbourne Ironman, the Spring Racing Carnival, the AFL grand final, the MotoGP out at Phillip Island and now the Cricket World Cup final.

Sydney, of course, plays host to the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, the City2Surf fun run, State of Origin, the Australian Open golf and the lion's share of key Socceroos' matches.

But Melbourne's propensity to turn up for anything with a ball, beer and a score probably earns it the edge.

SYDNEY - PLAN YOUR OUTFIT WITH CONFIDENCE

It's nice to know you can show up to your sporting event of choice in the requisite team supporter gear and know that what you're wearing when you leave the house will likely still be appropriate when you get home hours later.

Such is the beauty of Sydney, where the weather can be relied upon to remain somewhere close to stable.

Not so in Melbourne, where you're likely to cop enough UV rays to burn your forehead in the first quarter, then be dumped on from above after half-time.