Car Racing -- The annual Australian Formula One Grand Prix takes place in early March. Call Ticketmaster (tel. 13 61 22 in Australia), or the Grand Prix Hotline (tel. 13 16 41 in Australia, or 03/9258 7100) for information on tickets, accommodations, and airfares. Also check out the Grand Prix's website at www.grandprix.com.au.

Cricket -- From October through March, cricket's the name of the game in Melbourne. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Brunton Avenue, Yarra Park, Jolimont (tel. 03/9657 8879), once the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, is perhaps Australia's most hallowed cricket field. The stadium can accommodate 97,500 people. For the uninitiated, "one-day" games are the ones to look out for; "Test" games take several days to complete. Buy tickets at the gate or in advance from Ticketmaster (tel. 13 61 00 in Australia; www.ticketmaster7.com).

Tours of the MCG and its museum leave every half-hour daily from 10am to 3pm. The Australian Gallery of Sport and the Olympic Museum are also at the MCG. The Olympic Museum traces the development of the modern Olympics with individual display sections for each city.

Football -- Melbourne's number-one sport is Australian Rules Football -- or simply, "the footy" -- a skillful, often violent, ball game the likes of which you've never seen (unless you have ESPN). Melbourne sports 10 of the 16 Australian Football League (AFL) teams, with the others coming from Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Brisbane. The season starts on the third weekend in March and ends with the Grand Final on the last Saturday in September. The most accessible grounds are at The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) -- take tram no. 75 along Wellington Parade -- and the Optus Oval at Carlton -- take tram no. 19 from Elizabeth Street. Entrance tickets cost around A$16 (US$10.40) per person, or A$30 (US$20) for a family. For game information, call AFL Headquarters at tel. 03/9643 1999. Buy tickets at Ticketmaster (tel. 13 61 00 in Australia; www.ticketmaster7.com).

Horse-Racing -- The Melbourne Cup, on the first Tuesday in November, has been fought for by the best of Australia's thoroughbreds (and a few from overseas) since 1861. Melbourne society puts on a show when they dress up for the occasion, and the entire nation stops in its tracks to at least tune in on TV.

The city has four race tracks: Flemington (which holds the Melbourne Cup), on Epson Road in Flemington (tel. 03/9371 7171); Moonee Valley, on McPherson Street in Mooney Ponds (tel. 03/9373 2222); Caulfield, on Station Street in Caulfield (tel. 03/9257 7200); and Sandown, on Racecourse Drive in Springvale (tel. 03/9518 1300). If you're staying in the city center, Flemington and Moonee Valley tracks are the easiest to get to. Take tram no. 57 from Flinders Street to reach the Flemington racetrack, and catch tram no. 59 from Elizabeth Street to travel to Moonee Valley.

Tennis -- The Australian Open, one of the world's four Grand Slam events, is played during the last 2 weeks of January every year at the Melbourne Park National Tennis Center, on Batman Avenue (tel. 03/9286 1244). Tickets for the Australian Open go on sale in mid-October and are available through Ticketek (tel. 03/9299 9079) and also on the Open's website, www.ausopen.org. Guided tours of the center are offered from April through October, Wednesday through Friday, when events aren't scheduled. Tours cost A$5 (US$3.25) for adults and A$2.50 (US$1.60) for children. To get there, take a train from the Flinders Street Station to Richmond Station and catch the special Tennis Center tram from there.