Sheffield Shield

Origin of the shield

In 1891–92 the Earl of Sheffield was in Australia as the promoter of the English team led by W. G. Grace. The tour included three Tests played in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.

At the conclusion of the tour, Lord Sheffield donated £150 to the New South Wales Cricket Association to fund a trophy for an annual tournament of intercolonial cricket in Australia. The three colonies of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia were already playing each other in ad hoc matches. The new tournament commenced in the summer of 1892–93, mandating home and away fixtures between each colony each season. The three teams competed for the Sheffield Shield, named after its benefactor. A Polish immigrant, Phillip Blashki of Melbourne, won the competition to design the trophy, a 36 x silver shield.

The competition therefore commenced some 15 years after Australia's first Test match.

Sponsorship and name changes

In 1999, the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia) announced a sponsorship deal which included renaming the Sheffield Shield to the Pura Milk Cup, then to the Pura Cup the following season. Pura is a brand name of National Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bega Cheese. The sponsorship increased total annual prize money to A$220,000, with the winners receiving A$75,000 and the runners up A$45,000.

On 16 July 2008 it was announced that Weet-Bix would take over sponsorship of the competition from the start of the 2008–09 season, and that the name would revert to the "Sheffield Shield" or the "Sheffield Shield presented by Weet-Bix". Weet-Bix is a breakfast cereal manufactured by Sanitarium.

In the 2019–20 season, Marsh & McLennan Companies took over the sponsorship for the competition. This followed Marsh & McLennan's acquisition of JLT, which had sponsored the competition since 2017.

Teams

Since 1977–78, all six states of Australia have fielded their own teams. Details of each team are set out below.

Before 1993, all states were known solely by their state names or cricket association titles. Queensland was the first to adopt a nickname when it became known as the ‘Bulls’ from 1993; and following the success of that, other states adopted nicknames from 1995. The nicknames have since mostly fallen out of official use.

Venues

Below are the venues that hosted Sheffield Shield matches during the 2024–25 season.

Competition format

Each side has played each other both home and away every season with the following exceptions:

• South Australia had no home game with: Victoria in 1901–02 or 1903–04; either opponent in 1907–08; New South Wales in 1910–11.
• Queensland and South Australia played only once (in South Australia) in 1926–27.
• Western Australia played each team only once from their debut in 1946–47 until 1955–56 inclusive.
• Tasmania played each team only once from their debut in 1977–78 until 1981–82 inclusive.
• In 2019–20 the season was curtailed after nine rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The 2020–21 season was heavily affected by COVID-19 lockdowns, with QLD playing 9 games, Tasmania and South Australia 8, and Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria playing 7 each. Unusually for the Sheffield Shield, Victoria and New South Wales played each other 3 times during the home and away portion of the season.

Where the teams played an unequal number of games, their final points were calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Matches were timeless (i.e. played to an outright result, weather and schedule permitting) up to 1926–27. A four-day time limit has applied since 1927–28.

In 1940–41, however, the Sheffield Shield was not contested but ten first-class “friendly” matches were played between the States for patriotic funds; however financially these were unsuccessful.

The Sheffield Shield was not contested during the 1941–42 Australian first-class season - instead an “Interstate Patriotic Competition” was held, with all proceeds going to the war effort. Only one match was played (Queensland v NSW at the Gabba) before the competition was cancelled due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Final

Since 1982–83, the top two teams after the home and away rounds have met in a final, played over five days at the home ground of the top-ranked team. Between 1982–83 and 2017–18, in the event of a draw or tie, the Shield was awarded to the top-ranked team. Since the 2018–19 summer, in the event of a draw or tie, the team which scores more first innings bonus points, based on the system used in regular season matches, wins the Shield. No final was played in 2019–20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Points system

A points system has been used since the 2014–15 season, and currently points are awarded for each match during the home and away season according to the following table.

• Bonus points example – If after 100 overs the score is 8/350, the batting team would receive 1.5 points ([350 − 200] × 0.01), and the bowling side would receive 0.8 points (0.1 for each wicket)
• Quotient (team's batting average divided by its bowling average) is used to separate teams which finish on an equal number of points.
• Teams can be penalised points for failing to maintain an adequate over rate.
• The bonus bowling points were modified for the 2016–17 season. For the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, the bowling team received 0.5 points for taking the 5th, 7th and 9th wickets (a maximum 1.5 points).

Previous systems

• The Shield was initially envisaged as a match-by-match challenge trophy; it was originally determined on 4 January 1893 that it would first be awarded to the winner of the next inter-colonial match (which was, in fact, the fourth of the season), and then would pass in perpetuity to any team which defeated the holder of the trophy; But on 30 January, it was decided instead to award the Shield to the team which won the most intercolonial matches across the season.
• The quotient has been used as a tie-breaker for teams on equal points since 1893–94.
• First innings points were introduced in 1932–33 and used until 1970–71.
• Bonus points for first innings batting and bowling were used from 1971–72 to 1980–81 inclusive. During the first 100 (eight-ball) overs of each side's first innings, a maximum of 10 batting bonus points could be attained. They were awarded for every 25 runs scored from 175 to 400 inclusive. A maximum of 5 bowling bonus points were available, initially upon capture of the second, fourth, sixth, eighth and last wickets. This was later changed to wickets 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 as batting teams often declared when 9 wickets down to deny the bowling side the additional bonus point. Teams were awarded an extra 10 points for an outright win.
• From 1981–82 to 2013–14 there were no bonus points. Teams were awarded 6 points for an outright win, and 2 points for drawing or losing after holding a first innings lead.

Competition placings

Prior to the introduction of a Final in 1982–83, the team with most points after the home and away rounds was declared the winner. With the introduction of the Final, the top team hosts the second placed team in a five-day match. Until 2018–19, the visiting team was required to win the Final to win the championship; the home team won the championship in the event of a tied or drawn Final. Since the 2018–19 summer, in the event of a draw or tie, the team which scores more first innings bonus points, based on the system used in regular season matches, wins the Shield. Further details including match scorecards are available at Cricinfo and the Cricket Archive.

1892/93–1925/26

1926/27–1946/47

1947/48–1976/77

1977/78–present

Player of the Year

The Player of the Year award is announced at the end of each season. Since its inception in 1976 it has been awarded to the best-performed player/s over the season, as determined a panel of judges. Victorian and South Australian batsman Matthew Elliott has won the award the most times, being awarded Player of the Year on three separate occasions.

Records

Individual records

Most matches played

Players representing three states

Six other players have represented three Australian states in top-level cricket, but without playing Sheffield Shield games for all three – Neil Hawke (SA, Tas, WA); Walter McDonald (Qld, Tas, Vic); Percy McDonnell (NSW, Qld, Vic); Karl Quist (NSW, SA, WA); Greg Rowell (NSW, Qld, Tas); Wal Walmsley (NSW, Qld, Tas), Dan Christian (NSW, SA, Vic).

Team records

Team results

Highest team totals

Lowest team totals

Batting records

Highest individual scores

Most career runs

Most runs in a season

Highest batting averages

Most centuries

Bowling records

Most career wickets

Most wickets in a season

Best career average

Hat-tricks

Many bowlers have taken a hat-trick in the Sheffield Shield. Mitchell Starc is the only bowler to take two hat-tricks in a Sheffield Shield match. In round two of the 2017–18 competition, Starc became the only bowler to take a hat-trick in each innings of a first-class cricket match in Australia, doing so against Western Australia at Hurstville Oval.

Wicket-keeping records

Most dismissals

Most dismissals in a season

References

References

1. "J.O.I.N. Letters from Jewish Australia – Say NO to Prejudice".
2. (2 June 1894). "The Sheffield Shield". The Herald.
3. Rick Eyre. (17 November 1999). "Aussie state champions to drink from the Milk Cup". [[Cricinfo]].
4. (16 July 2008). "Cricket Australia and Weet-Bix bring Sheffield Shield back". [[Cricket Australia]].
5. (27 March 2024). "State cricket teams return to historical 'South Australia' name".
6. (24 May 2018). "Victorian Cricket Team name update". Cricket Victoria.
7. (29 July 2019). "Domestic Cricket Changes". WA Cricket.
8. (17 March 2020). "NSW handed Sheffield Shield as coronavirus bring season to abrupt finish".
9. (1998). "The Wisden Book of Cricket Records". Headline Book Publishing.
10. ‘Sheffield Shield Cricket Cancelled’; ''[[The Courier-Mail]]'', 10 July 1940, p. 1
11. ‘No Inter-State Cricket’; ''[[The Age]]'', 3 July 1941, p. 3
12. "Queensland versus NSW".
13. "Rule change set to liven up Shield final".
14. "New South Wales named Sheffield Shield winners as final cancelled". ESPN Cricinfo.
15. "Sheffield Shield schedule revealed". cricket.com.au.
16. (5 January 1893). "The Sheffield Shield". South Australian Register.
17. (22 February 1893). "Correspondence". South Australian Register.
18. Wynne-Thomas, Peter. (1983). "The Hamlyn A-Z of Cricket Records pages 133-137". Hamlyn Publishing Group.
19. Engel, Matthew. (2004). "Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2004, pages 1344-1345". John Wisden & Company Ltd.
20. [https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/new-era-for-sheffield-shield-748635 New era for Sheffield Shield], Daniel Brettig, [[ESPNcricinfo]], 29 May 2014
21. "Sheffield Shield Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com".
22. "The Home of CricketArchive".
23. "Sheffield Shield Player of the Year". Cricinfo.com.
24. (7 November 2017). "Starc's second hat-trick delivers victory for NSW". ESPN Cricinfo.
25. (7 November 2017). "Two hat-tricks in the same match". ESPN Cricinfo.