NSW Premier Cricket - The record partnerships from 1893 to 2023 - the first wicket record

Lyall Gardner | July 12, 2023

Introduction

While the better scores by batters in a cricket match generally receive noticeable attention, the often-overlooked feature of any scoreboard will undoubtedly be the value of partnerships within the innings. Batting in pairs, each player has a responsibility to preserve their wicket while scoring as many runs as possible in concert with their partner. It also requires a particular skill in complementing the ability of each partner through communication when calling for a run, rotating the strike and overall encouragement.

Partnerships take on different values during the course of an innings. An opening partnership has the duty of seeing off the new ball while giving the team a foundation to build a good score. Middle-order partnerships have the responsibility of consolidating the innings while lower and tail-end partnerships have varying purposes depending upon the state of the game. They may be encouraged to bat aggressively and score as many runs quickly as possible, hold up an end if the partner is an established batter and scoring well or, if both batters are tail-enders, to hold on for a draw if a win is out of the question.

Partnerships are also important for their psychological effect on the fielding team. Large and long partnerships can demoralise and fatigue opposing bowlers and fielders, particularly where they occur when a number of wickets have been lost for very few runs. The expectation of wrapping-up an innings can be devastating for a team when prevented from doing so by a lengthy partnership, particularly if it is the last pair at the wicket. A right-hand, left-hand batting combination can also be most beneficial for the batting side while disrupting and annoying the fielding team through constant field and bowling changes.

The NSW Cricket Association has maintained partnership records of Sydney 1st Grade Cricket, now NSW Premier Cricket, dating back to the beginning of the competition in 1893. And they make interesting reading. Just about every leading NSW first-class cricketer has featured in a partnership of significance at some time. The records are peppered with famous cricketing names such as Don Bradman, Victor Trumper, Monty Noble, Archie Jackson, Warren Bardsley, Frank Iredale, Stan McCabe, Richie Benaud, Bob Simpson, Doug Walters, Allan Border and Alan Davidson among many others.

It is the participation of such players at club level along with the fact that many record individual scores are associated with large partnerships, which prompted my interest and led to this work. I was also intrigued how certain records stood for many years before finally being broken. There are some however, still intact after more than a century, such as the first wicket partnership of 423 established by Victor Trumper and Dan Gee in 1902-03.

It is the story behind the partnership which creates the fascination and while I have not gone into any great detail, there is enough information to make this an interesting and worthwhile exercise. It is not just about the record holders, but also those many partnerships which came close to setting a new mark or were valiant in their attempt. It also provides an insight into the quality of Sydney 1st Grade cricket through to the end of the 2022-23 season, quite often claimed to be the most competitive club competition in the world. Enjoy the journey.

Lyall Gardner OAM

Randwick Petersham Cricket Historian

RECORD: 423 runs in 1902-03 by Victor Trumper (335) / Daniel Gee (172) for Paddington 9-618 declared against Redfern 53 & 122 at Redfern Oval in round 7, 31 January-7 February 1903.

Batting first in front of a large crowd at Redfern Oval, this performance may best be summed up by the report which appeared in The Sunday Times newspaper on 1 February 1903. It read: “At Redfern, Victor Trumper provided 7,000 people with a display which even his greatest admirers were not prepared. In 2 ¾ hours, he compiled 335 runs off his own bat, his cricket and rate of scoring outclassing anything ever before seen on a ground noted for fast rungetting. Prior to Trumper, Redfern bowlers had been performing in fine style, but he simply annihilated them yesterday. He hit 22 fives and 39 fours, which made 266 runs by boundary hits. He sent the ball out of the ground and over the heads of the people in all directions, into the streets, the park, and the bowling green. Such hitting was never before seen here, and probably in the world. Trumper’s 335 is the record score for Senior cricket in Sydney and the first wicket partnership of 423 by him and D. Gee, who made 172, is also a record here. It may be mentioned that E. Hume, Redfern’s crack bowler, bowled ten overs from which 120 runs were hit.”

The style of a legend: Victor Trumper

The Referee weekly sporting newspaper, went a little further with their reporting, claiming there were between 9,000-10,000 people watching—a record for the Redfern ground. The oval was so deep and densely populated that many could not get in. They added “The trees in the park were peopled, and the streets blocked with tradesmen’s carts whose drivers wanted to see the hero of the hour operating. Old cricketers and present-day cricketers agree that such a display as Trumper gave was not only never given by any man before but was never dreamt of as possible and will never be repeated. As to its repetition, who knows?”

Cricketing folklore has it that one of his clean hits out of the oval was estimated to have travelled 140 yards before crashing through the window of a boot factory. As a tribute to that feat, the window remained in its shattered state for some time. South Sydney Leagues Club is now on that site.

The huge partnership easily passed the previous record of 259 which Trumper (119) had held with Alick MacKenzie (166) for Paddington against Glebe since 2 December 1899. The pair also had the 1st wicket partnership record before that, having put on 248 in a score of 2-300 declared in just 100 minutes against Burwood, 21 months earlier on 5 March 1898. Trumper made 191* and MacKenzie 137 on that occasion. Victor was the competition’s leading batsman that 1897-98 season, hitting 1,021 runs at an average of 204.20

Highest innings score record

Prior to his amazing innings of 335 off just 205 balls, Trumper had held every batting record in Sydney 1st Grade cricket, except for the highest individual score, which had belonged to Harry Donnan who made 308 for South Sydney against North Sydney in 1897-98. He now had that one and has held it to the present day. Had the 22 fives he hit been counted as sixes, as they were from 1910, his total would have been 357. It was also the 16th century for the 25-year-old and his fifth against Redfern.

Redfern a soft target for Paddington

Victor’s partner, Daniel Gee, also showed he had a liking for the Redfern bowlers having made a century against them three years earlier. Interestingly, Gee was not graded in 1sts with Paddington at the start of the season. In a career from 1896 to 1925, he played for five clubs scoring over 8,000 runs with nine centuries. He also played twice for NSW.

In reply to Paddington’s massive score, Redfern made just 53 and 122 to give Paddington an outright win by an innings and 443 runs. The star with the ball was NSW captain, Monty Noble, taking 7-27 off 13.1 overs in Redfern’s first innings.

Paddington’s score of 9-618 was not a record. That was set by the same club in 1895-96, again playing Redfern although at the SCG, when they scored 5-726, with five players making centuries. That score remains a NSW Premier Cricket record. And in 1918-19, Paddington was again in the record books hitting the second-highest score, knocking up 6-636 against Central Cumberland at Parramatta with William McCloy making 236*.

In 1904-05, just two seasons after his record-breaking partnership, the brilliance of Victor Trumper was again on display with another Paddington 300-plus opening score, playing the hapless Redfern club at Redfern Oval. While it was well short of the record, the 330 runs put on by Trumper (215) and Wally Chapman (146) was the then second highest first wicket partnership.

Trumper’s 215 came up in just 110 minutes with six fives and 33 fours while his first hundred took just 63 minutes. Chapman, who was in his initial 1st Grade season, brought up his 100 in a little over 100 minutes, going on to an impressive 146 before he was stumped. He hit 15 fours and two fives. The final Paddington score was 519 runs from 462 balls. Redfern made 205 to go down by 314 runs.

It was clear that Trumper was in good form that season, as he “carried his bat” with a score of 189* in a total of 351 against Waverley at Waverley Oval in the first round. He hit 15 fives and 22 fours in an innings which lasted 135 minutes. He and his brother-in-law, Jim Kelly, who made 98, put on 219 for the 5th wicket in just 70 minutes.

While the 423 runs 1st wicket partnership was scored in NSW Premier 1st Grade Cricket, it has been surpassed on only two occasions in Australian first-class Interstate Cricket. The first was the 431 by Mike Veletta and Geoff Marsh for Western Australia against South Australia in 1989, while Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris put on 486 for Victoria against South Australia in 2020.

Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski

Record defies all attempts to run it down

Although the first wicket partnership record of 423 has never been threatened in the 119 years since its creation in 1903, a relatively recent performance in 2016-17 exceeded the Trumper-Chapman second-highest mark of 330. That was by Greg Mail (179) and Nick Larkin (206*) for Sydney University against Manly-Warringah at University.

In that round 3 clash, Mail and Larkin put on 337 in 281 minutes with 49 fours in a final score of 1-424 declared. Mail faced 215 balls hitting 22 boundaries while Larkin faced 247 in 336 minutes with 27 fours. Manly-Warringah made just 147. Both Mail and Larkin played first-class cricket for NSW, while Greg Mail went on to become the highest scoring batsman in the history of the NSW Premier Cricket 1st Grade competition with a tally of 15,242 runs.

That partnership was a new 1st wicket record for Sydney University in 1st Grade, breaking the 2009-10 record of 324, also against Manly-Warringah, although at Manly Oval. On that occasion, Manly was dismissed for 198 after skipper Greg Mail took 5-16 off 10 overs. In reply, Mail and Will Hay opened the batting, putting on a mammoth 324 in 233 minutes before Mail was caught for 166 off 189 balls with 23 fours and three sixes. Hay remained undefeated on 162* from 162 balls in 252 minutes with 21 fours and six sixes. That partnership remains the fifth highest 1st wicket partnership in the 1st Grade competition.

Bowlers’ nightmare; 0-300 and then some

There have been three other 1st wicket partnerships exceeding 300 runs. The amazing thing in each of those matches was that the partnership was the declared final score for the team without a wicket falling. And while one of them resulted in a resounding win and another in a washed-out draw, the other ended in a spectacular defeat.

The first of those was in 1905-06 when NSW opening bat, “Sunny” Jim Mackay (157*) and NSW captain Austin Diamond (143*), put on 0-309 declared in the opening partnership for Burwood against Middle Harbour at Manly Oval in just 87 minutes. That followed the dismissal of Middle Harbour for only 83 in 27.3 overs with George Garnsey taking 6-39. The performance was a Burwood club record surpassing the 290 scored for the first wicket against Glebe in the opening match of the season. On that occasion, Mackay made 204 and Aubrey Johnston 102* in a partnership of 290 at St Lukes in 155 minutes. Jim Mackay was the top bat in the competition that season with 1,042 runs at 104.20--the first player after Victor Trumper eight years earlier, to pass 1,000 runs in a season. He was considered unlucky to miss the 1905 Australian tour of England.

The second was in 1949-50 when Bede McCauley and Gordon Horsfield, both former NSW players, put on 0-325 declared for Mosman against Petersham. McCauley, a champion from the Randwick club, at 38 years of age hit 33 boundaries in an innings of 204* lasting 233 minutes. In making that score, he became the first batsman in the 1st Grade competition to pass 200 runs in an innings for two clubs, having made 200* against Marrickville for Randwick in 1937-38. Horsfield made 109*. Petersham did not get to bat as day two was washed out leaving the result a draw.

The third was in 1972-73 when champion Australian Test star Doug Walters smashed 190* with 24 fours and a six and Bruce Neill hit 122* with 15 boundaries for Central Cumberland against Petersham-Marrickville at Merrylands Oval in a one-day match. At 0-319, the innings was declared after just 187 minutes and 44 overs. But “the Petes” would not be denied and with 99 from Brian Riley and half-centuries from three others, they ran down the target to win in 56.5 overs to the surprise of the most ardent cricket follower.

Doug Walters

Early openers

The list of high-scoring opening partnerships throughout the NSW Premier Cricket 1st Grade competition, contains the names of many of Australia’s top batters. Of those above 150 runs, not surprisingly, Victor Trumper appears eight times, two of which were with Monty Noble. The pair put on 229 for Paddington against Petersham in 1908 and 157 playing North Sydney the season before. Trumper also paired with Dan Gee in 1900, making 207 against Redfern.

Reggie Duff, who scored a Test century on debut when batting no. 10 in 1902, joined his brother Wally Duff in an opening stand of 236 for North Sydney chasing Redfern’s 207 at Redfern Oval in 1898. Reggie made 123 and Wally 136 in their team’s total of 422. North’s batted two men short, one of whom took umbrage at his position in the batting and absented himself. The Duff brothers were the first of six sibling pairings to score a century in the same Sydney 1st Grade innings. Reggie Duff went on to play 22 Tests for Australia making a century in his final match to become the first player to score a hundred in his first and last Test.

Reggie Duff

Balmain’s Archie Jackson hit 183 in a match against Gordon in 1931 while putting on 181 for the first wicket with Dick Nutt, who made 63. Stan McCabe scored 127 in a 178 runs partnership with Keith Carmody (70) for Mosman against St George in 1939 while two years later, 20-year-old Arthur Morris hit 109* for Saints with Lance Byrne (102*), in putting on 213* against Glebe. Nine years later, Morris scored 201* while he and Eric Lukeman opened with 174 against North Sydney.

In later seasons, Test players such as Grahame Thomas, Bobby Simpson, Steve Smith, Ian Davis, Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Michael Slater and David Warner featured in many outstanding opening partnerships. Of that group, Thomas (151) and Allan Kelly (85) put on 246 for Bankstown against Paddington in 1963 while Waugh (177) and Gary Crowfoot (87), also for the Bulldogs, hit 221 out of 3-364 playing Petersham-Marrickville in 1985-86, chasing down 6-349 dec. And again for Bankstown, 19-year-old Steve Smith belted 215* in a score of 3-411 against Sydney (210) in 1981-82 putting on 196 for the first with Crowfoot (61). Smith also broke the club’s highest 1st Grade individual record of 176. Smith played three Tests against West Indies in 1984.

Steve Smith

First-class records for the 1st wicket

In comparison with other levels of cricket, the Trumper-Gee record of 423 remains higher than the current Test Cricket record of 415 established by Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith for South Africa against Bangladesh at Chattogram in 2008. However, it is well below the initial first-class cricket record of 554 which was set by Jack Brown (300) and John Tunnicliffe (243) playing for Yorkshire against Derbyshire at Chesterfield in 1898--five years before the NSW Premier

Cricket record. That record was subsequently broken in 1932 when Percy Holmes (224*) and Herbert Sutcliffe (313) put on 555 for Yorkshire against Essex at Leyton. And 45 years later in 1977, Waheed Mirza (324) and Mansoor Akhtar (224*) smashed 561 opening for Karachi Whites, playing Quetta at the National Stadium, Karachi.

South Africa’s Neil McKenzie (170) and Graeme Smith (231) - Record holders of the Test Cricket 1st wicket partnership