NSW Premier Cricket - the breeding ground for world cricket

You ask any cricketer who has played for New South Wales what it means to them to wear the Baggy Blue Cap and most will proudly say “the greatest State, Province, County in World Cricket.”

I understand former Australian and NSW leg spinner Peter Philpott was prominent in sharing the statement with the Blues players of the early 80’s especially Mike Whitney, Greg Matthews and Steve Small. When I asked current player Trent Copeland what it meant to him to play for NSW, he text, “The best State, Province, County in World Cricket. Special.”

What an honour it must be and hopefully it’s a dream and ambition of every young cricketer in NSW, men, women, boys and girls.

The Sheffield Shield was first contested in 1892 and NSW has won the Shield in 47 of the 128 years.

The breeding ground, the nursery to play for New South Cricket is NSW Premier Cricket, formerly known as Sydney Grade Cricket.

Since 1970, 72 Australian Test Cricketers have played Premier/Grade cricket in Sydney. Many played Test cricket from NSW and Sydney Grade Cricket, some played in Sydney and went interstate before making their Test debut  and others have come to Sydney and gone on to play for NSW and then Australia.

South Australian leg spinner Terry Jenner was the first player to make his debut in 1970, he is Test number 248 and the most recent Test debutant, Jhye Richardson is Test number 458. So of the 211 Test debutants since 1970, 72 (34%) have played Premier/Grade Cricket in Sydney.

Premier/Grade Cricket in Sydney is often described as tough, uncompromising and very competitive. Consistent runs, wickets, dismissals in Sydney counts for something and it seems many overseas players have wanted to expand and improve their skills by playing in Sydney.

Let’s take a look at the players from overseas who have played Premier/Grade cricket in Sydney and had played Test cricket or gone onto to play Test cricket for their country since 1970.

Blacktown Mounties

Corey Collymore - West Indies

Subroto Banerjee - India

Tim McIntosh - New Zealand

Campbelltown - Camden

Winston Davis – West Indies

Ollie Pope – England

Derek Pringle – England

Monty Panesar - England, also played with Randwick Petersham and Western Suburbs

 

Eastern Suburbs/ Waverley

Tony Greig – England

Ian Greig - England

Geoff Boycott – England

Kepler Wessels – South Africa but debuted for Australia and included in the above 72

Chetan Chauhan – India

Andy Lloyd - England

Paul Parker - England

Tony - Pigott - England

Malcolm Marshall – West Indies

Sam Robson – England, also played for UNSW

James Marshall - New Zealand

Jason Roy – England

Tim Murtagh – Ireland, also played for Western Suburbs

Will Sommerville – New Zealand, also played with Sydney University

Malcolm Marshall

Gordon

Scott Styris – New Zealand

Mason Crane – Engalnd

Daniel Flynn - New Zealand

Hawkesbury

Roland Butcher - England

Manly

Alvin Kallicharran - West Indies

David Lawrence - England

Bruce Martin - New Zealand

Morne Morkel – South Africa

 

Mosman

Paul Jarvis – England, also played for Manly

Wayne Daniel - Mosman

Phil De Freitas – England

Jason Gallian – England, also played for Manly

Andrew Strauss – England, also played for Sydney University

Jeff Crowe – New Zealand

Shoaib Akhtar - Pakistan

Johan Botha - South Africa

Andrew Strauss

Northern District

Ian Butler - New Zealand, also played with Bankstown

Scott Borthwick - England

Upul Chandana - Sri Lanka

Parramatta

Chris Cowdrey - England

Jonathon Agnew - Parramatta

Colin Stuart - West Indies

Randwick Petersham

Nasser Hussain – England

David Capel – England

Jon Lewis - England

Andrew Balbirnie - Ireland

 

Nasser Hussain

St George

Marvan Atapattu - Sri Lanka

Mark Stoneman – England, also played for Bankstown and Campbelltown Camden

Rory Burns – England, also played for Randwick Petersham

 

Sutherland

Andy Roberts - West Indies

Andre Adams – New Zealand

Daryl Tuffey – New Zealand

Wayne Larkins - England

James Franklin - New Zealand

Lockie Ferguson - New Zealand

Tim Bresnan - England

 

Sydney/Balmain

Erapalli Prasanna - India

Graham Vivian - New Zealand

Mike Gatting - England

Bill Athey – England, also played for Manly

TE Srinivasan - India

Chris Broad - England

Nick Knight - England

Russell Arnold – Sri Lanka

Graham Thorpe - England

Brendon McCullum – New Zealand

Trent Boult - New Zealand

Zakir Khan - Pakistan

Joe Denly - Sydney

Zak Crawley – England

 

Mike Gatting

Sydney University

Imran Khan – Pakistan

Kevin Pietersen – England

James Ormond – England

 

Imran Khan

UNSW

Ian Salisbury - England

Chris Adams - England

UTS North Sydney

Jack Richards - England

Waqar Younis - Pakistan

Dwayne Smith - West Indies

Niall O’Brien - Ireland

Western Suburbs

Angus Fraser – England

Nick Crompton – England

 

That’s a total of 81 international players and an overall total of 153 Test Cricketers who played Premier/Grade cricket in Sydney since 1970.

It’s a quality and strong breeding ground. The way it should be.

Please note: If I've missed any overseas players who've played Premier/Grade cricket in Sydney and played Test cricket for their country please don't hesitate to email batfirst@cricketsydney.com.au so we can include them in the list.