NSW Premier Cricket - The record partnerships from 1893 to 2023 - the sixth wicket record
Lyall Gardner | August 17, 2023
RECORD: 284 runs in 1991-92 by Craig McComb (153) / Ross Trewartha (119) for St George, 7-367 declared against Western Suburbs 154 at Hurstville Oval in round 11, 25-27 January 1992.
Chasing Wests’ modest total of 154 after giant fast bowler Phil Alley had taken 5-37, St George was soon in trouble. Against some hostile bowling from Steve Nikitaris and Dan Horsley, both of whom would go on to play first-class cricket for NSW, Wayne Seabrook (7), Geoff Milliken (0) and Brad McNamara (0) were among the early victims. At 5-54, Ross Trewartha joined Craig McComb and over the following 227 minutes, the pair put on a club and Association record of 284 runs to take the match by five wickets. Their performance included 30 boundaries and three sixes.
McComb batted for 247 minutes for his 153, hitting 17 fours and two sixes while Trewartha’s 119 was helped along with 13 fours and a six in 232 minutes. The final score of 7-367 was made in 379 minutes off 109 overs.
The performance of McComb was enough for him to win the round 11 Puma cricket boots in the Herald /Puma Cricket Awards. It followed a score of 161 made just four rounds earlier in round 7 against Parramatta at Hurstville. He finished the 1991-92 season with a total of 658 runs which was the best in his 10 years 1st Grade career of 4,660 runs with four centuries. In his professional capacity, McComb was the St George club physiotherapist for many years.
Once broken, old record regularly re-visited
The 284 runs partnership broke the previous record of 273* established by Kevin Roberts (128*) and Steve Day (133*) for eventual 1st Grade premiers Gordon, against Sutherland in early 1989-90. Their stand also broke the Gordon 6th wicket record of 164 which had stood since 1941. Sutherland made just 168. Roberts later played first-class cricket for NSW and became CEO of Cricket Australia in 2018.
The effort by Roberts and Day overtook the previous mark of 261 set by Australian wicket-keeper/batsman Steve Rixon and Greg Horner for Sutherland, just 371 days earlier in 1988-89. They also achieved their highest 1st Grade scores for their club with Rixon making 142 in 302 minutes with 16 fours and Horner, 153 in 247 minutes with 15 fours and a six. Sutherland’s total of 493 dwarfed Parramatta’s 182. Despite the huge score, there was some disappointment in the Sharks’ camp as a competition bonus point would have been achieved had the side made 500.
Interestingly, the Rixon– Horner partnership was, at that time, the best since former NSW first-class cricketer, Raymond “Mick” Bardsley (203* with 30 fours and a five) and Newington College recruit, Phillip Carter (74*), put on 229* for Western Suburbs in 1928. They came together at 5-158 chasing Mosman’s modest 209 and took the Wests score to 5-387 at stumps. And despite that record standing the test of time for 60 years, it was broken three times in the space of four years.
300 a real barrier for the 6th
Of the first seven SCA 1st Grade partnership records, the 284 runs for the 6th wicket is the only one under 300. There have, however, been 10 partnerships of 200 or more. The first occasion was in the 1902-03 season when Frank Iredale, having played the last of his 14 Tests for Australia the previous season, combined with Alfred Haddon to put on 219 for North Sydney against Waverley at North Sydney Oval. Iredale retired his innings at 109 but Haddon went on to finish 165* in a final score of 7-449 declared, chasing Waverley’s 304. The performance of Haddon was all the more meritorious as he only gained a place in the side when North’s Test all-rounder, A J “Bert” Hopkins, failed to arrive in time from a match in Melbourne. Iredale went on to become Secretary of the NSW Cricket Association for a period of 12 years from 1914 to 1926.
Frank Iredale
No recent pressure on record
The closest any 6th wicket partnership has come to the current 284 runs record, which had stood for 32 years to the end of 2022-23, was the 235 in 196 minutes by Adam Semple (158* off 185 balls with 25 fours and two sixes) and John McLoughlin (80 with 10 fours from 160 balls)) in a score of 6-392 declared for Randwick Petersham in their outright win over Campbelltown-Camden at Coogee Oval in 2011-12.
St George pair Simon Chu (159 off 172 balls with 12 fours and five sixes) and Chris MacDougal (64 off 157 balls with five fours) also combined well in 2012-13 with a tally of 225 for the 6th wicket. Coming together at 5-111, the innings was declared with the departure of Chu at 6-336 off 86 overs. Sydney could only manage 127 in reply.
200 plus in less than an hour; 22 over the fence
One of the most spectacular batting displays of the 1920s involved a 6th wicket partnership of 213*, which was just six runs behind the then Iredale-Haddon record. It occurred in a match between Petersham and North Sydney at Petersham Oval in 1920-21. Ossie Smith, who batted no. 3, was joined at 5-257 by no. 7, the great all-rounder Jack Scott. Together, the pair took the score to the stumps total of 5-470 off just 69 overs, which surprisingly was complemented by 10 maidens. That score included an amazing 22 sixes with Smith belting 10 of them along with 30 fours. He also took 23 off one over from a hapless spin bowler. Scott hit nine sixes and 11 fours and smashed opening bowler Sid Shea for three consecutive “maximums”, leaving him with the unflattering figures of 3-93 from 11 overs.
The 213 runs partnership was achieved in only 56 minutes. Interestingly, in his previous three innings, Smith had scored 2, 1 and 1 while Scott made just 2 and 9 in his two trips to the crease. North Sydney made 357 with Austin Punch returning fire, scoring 207 made in 168 minutes. Scott took 4-64.
Jack Scott
Test stars in the mix
Association records for 6th wicket partnerships include a number of Australian Test stars. Players such as Victor Trumper, Archie Jackson, Monty Noble, Charlie Macartney, Warren Bardsley, Bert Hopkins, Herb Collins, Arthur Morris and Richie Benaud all feature as century-makers in 150 runs-plus partnerships.
Don Bradman is another to stand out, although in just a modest partnership of 135 with Dick Brown (24*) in October 1931. It has particular interest however, as the 246 he made that day against Randwick at Coogee Oval, was his highest in his Sydney 1st Grade career and was a new record for the St George club. The 23-year-old batted for 205 minutes with his last 150 coming in 100. Saints ended with 6-364 declared. Randwick, the defending premiers, made 176. The Don’s 246 was also the highest score by a player involved in a Sydney 1st Grade 6th wicket partnership.
Bradman the record holder
While Bradman’s best 6th wicket partnership for St George was not an Association record, he is the joint holder of the Australian Test Cricket record for that wicket. On New Year’s Day in 1937 at Melbourne, Don Bradman and Jack Fingleton put on 346 for the 6th wicket against England in the Third Ashes Test. The pair came together at 5-97 in the second innings after Australia had made 9-200 declared and England 9-76 declared in the first. When Fingleton was caught for 136 from 428 balls with six fours, the score had reached 6-443. Bradman was second last out for 270 from 375 balls
